she taught her pet pig to play tag and chew gum, and still eats pork

… Oglesby says she's happy with her decision to go with a somewhat unusual pet, despite the challenges in raising it.

"I'm an odd person," she says. "I think I'm a fun person, but I am an odd person. I've just always wanted a pig."

That may be true if you consider teaching a pig to chew gum and play tag. Oglesby says both hidden talents came out of Tater Tot by accident.

"We were just out in the yard and I ran up and touched her one day, then I ran away," Oglesby says. "She kind of danced around for a minute, then she chased me and touched me with her snout, then she ran off. Another time I was just sitting there and I decided to give her a piece of gum."

Don't believe all that stuff you may have read about pigs eating anything.

"She only likes fruit-flavored gums," Oglesby says. "She'll chew it for 10 or 15 minutes until it loses its flavor, then she'll spit it out. My next big thing is teaching her how to blow a bubble."

That's about where Tater Tot's picky palette ends. Except for a distaste for carrots and cucumbers, the little pig will eat just about anything put before her, from table scraps to dog food - her favorite.

"Of course, we don't feed her any pork," Oglesby says. "That would just be wrong."

Oglesby still eats pork, though.

"Yeah, but I can't tell her that," she says. …

…from: One 'Pig' Happy Family by Derek Hodges, The Mountain Press