When is National Pig Day?
March 1st is National Pig Day.
What is National Pig Day?
Let’s name the smart animals. Chimps, dolphins, elephants, and octopuses are a few. Do pigs come to mind? Introduce yourself to the clever pig, one of nature’s most intelligent animals and the worthy object of celebration on National Pig Day.
These wily swine get a bad rap. When you “hog” the couch, you’re being greedy and selfish. When you “pig out”, you’re definitely not eating with your health in mind. It’s too bad, because pigs are smart. They might be as smart as three-year-old human children.
See, pigs can easily learn new abilities. What sort of abilities? Just do a web search on pigs playing video games to find out—no joke. A capacity to learn helps them adapt in complex environments. They maintain elaborate social structures, give each other eye contact, and can recognize themselves in mirrors. Whoa.
They might not be top of the class, but they’re probably the smartest creatures that humans have domesticated. So raise your snouts high on National Pig Day in honor of the intellectual pig.
Fun facts about National Pig Day!
Pigs have great object-location memory. They also can learn how to put their toys away at the end of the day, like a well-trained border collie.
The social structure of pigs looks a lot like elephant social hierarchies.
Swine can practice deceptive behavior and swindle their fellow hogs.
Depending on who you ask, pigs are either the fifth-smartest or second-smartest critters in the animal kingdom.
Two sisters, Ellen Stanley of Lubbock, Texas and Mary Lynne Rave of Beaufort, North Carolina, created National Pig Day in 1972.
How to celebrate National Pig Day:
Throw a pig party! Serve pink pig punch and tie pigtail ribbons around trees, doorknobs, and railings. Pig out on pig-shaped cupcakes. If you’re feeling venturesome, use edible markers to draw nostrils and wrinkles on pink marshmallows to make sweet swine snouts.
What’s the hashtag for National Pig Day?
Use #NationalPigDay on social media to celebrate the clever pig.