The Whole Hog: Exploring The Extraordinary Potential Of Pigs Hardcover – 30 Nov. 2004

This was bought for me one Christmas as something as a joke, because at that time I had become somewhat obsessed with the hog and pig in archaeological contexts. I could bore on about pigs for hours (still can, for that matter, but I tend to get stamped on!).But this book, although very funny in many places, is anything but a joke. It is a humourous and affectionate account of different types of hog. The author grew up with them in Africa and tells some excellent anecdotes, many very amusing, but he obviously became fascinated by the characteristics and habits of these animals in a very serious way.Watson explores and describes hogs in great detail, offering very high quality insights into their behaviour as individuals and in groups. He mixes science and narrative in a very skilled way, sharing knowledge and carrying the reader along with him.I learned a considerable amount from the book, as much about the differences as about the similarities of different types of pig and their advantages. And I enjoyed it enormously.I also bought the book for a number of people as gifts because the writing style is engaging, digestible, and entertaining without being patronising, over-simplified or, a horrible dread, slapstick. I received lots of positive reports from my somewhat risky gift, which is a great compliment to Lyall Watson because I bought it for some very different people whose interests have nothing in common with mine.Thanks to Mr Watson for a great book. I am grateful to him for sharing his knowledge and his experiences.

very happy to receive the book so quickly. It arrived in good order and i find it is very interesting.

Good summary about pigs

Watson's book on the much maligned porker is excellent. Scientifically accurate, drawing on his personal experiences as a child in Africa, it left me with a greater appreciation of the intelligence, social complexity and survival skills of ham bearing creatures.

Before I read this book I knew, having grown up on a farm, that pigs were a very significant and useful animal. This fantastic, thoughtful and sometimes humourous book amazed and delighted me. It reviews the complex social history of the relationship between pigs and human civilisation the world over. I had no idea of the really central role pig- keeping has played. Read it, you'll be amazed. If you haven't read Lyall Watson before I'd say his style of writing is similar to the well informed, imaginative style of Bill Bryson - if you like Bryson you'll like this (so, if you like this, try Bryson too)

'Pigs, wild and domestic, like it or not, are a force in our lives. They are everything, everywhere and ever ambiguous - massive or dainty, finicky or fat, stolid or effervescent, but never anything less than compelling. They are animals for all seasons, found everywhere except the continent of Antarctica. And wherever pigs may be found, the one thing that everyone agrees on is that pigs are far smarter than any cloven-hoofed ungulate has a right to be.'- Lyall Watson, The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of PigsPigs are ubiquitous in modern culture. To gauge the extent to which they have infiltrated human consciousness, one must only look at language and phrases. There, porcine references are legion, showing that these magnificent beasts have been influencing humans in profound ways for a long, long time. Some pig-derived terms are commonplace: 'make a pig of oneself'; 'male chauvinist pig'; 'pig-headed'; 'high on the hog'; 'Hog Heaven'; 'as happy as a pig in mud'; 'when pigs fly'. Some pig-related idioms are less universally known. The term 'in good nick' was first used to describe a pig crossbred from two different suiform species into a healthy example of a new breed, but it is now more commonly used with reference to a person who is physically fit and aesthetic. 'A pig in a poke' is a bad deal entered into blindly; this idiom highlights the importance of thoroughly examining the contents of a deal before committing ourselves to it. 'Hog wild' (a term beautifully exemplified by Charlie Sheen in 2011) derives from the wild boars of the forest, which were much feared and respected (in some places, boars were even revered as demi-gods: my Celtic ancestors formed boar cults, while in Egypt boar-headed gods existed before any other animal worked its way into the pantheon). To 'hog' something is to keep it all to oneself (much like 'having the lion's share'). Pigs' obvious enjoyment of being centre of attention led to the phrases 'ham actor' and 'hogging the limelight'. The list goes on and on. From the dawn of man, pigs in all their forms have fascinated us, and with good reason. We have much to learn from our suiform brothers and sisters. Lyall Watson approaches pigs from a perspective that is uniquely multi-faceted: he is a naturalist and world-renowned authority on all things porcine, yet he doesn't have the detached objectivity that makes the writing of most naturalists lacklustre; having grown up in Africa, and been lucky enough to make emotional connections with wild pigs, Watson writes prose that sparkles with admiration for - and awe of - the animals he has spent over half a century living with and observing. 'The Whole Hog: Exploring the Extraordinary Potential of Pigs' is not a stuffy academic study of suiformes; rather, it is a preposterously readable labour of love. Because it comes from a place of affection, Watson's book contains more insights and deeper profundity than any purely academic study. Watson combines his academic rigour, subjective experience, keen observation, emotional connection, compassion, admiration, love and humour with his ability to write truly touching prose. When it comes to knowledge of all things pig, Lyall Watson is very much hogging the limelight.I've always loved pigs (although not in the carnal sense, I should stress). In early childhood, during my first Spanish holiday with my parents, I rapidly became bored by sitting poolside among oiled-up sedentary people, so I went walkabout. Upon noticing that I had disappeared, my mother and father panicked, fearing that I had been abducted. They informed the hotel manager, who sent out a search party. They found me at a nearby pig pen, entranced, surrounded by enormous snorting beasts. To my amazement, these pigs were as excited by my presence as I was by theirs. This felt like finding hidden treasure, but better, as this treasure was alive, intelligent, inquisitive and adorable. My father gave me a stern talk on staying clear of pigs in future, as they had the ability to bite through bone, muscle and sinew, and to digest all these things with ease. Despite my father's warnings, I returned to see my porcine friends every day of that holiday. Since then, my affection for pigs has been boundless. So for me, Watson's book was literary manna from Heaven.As a result of my obsession with pigs, I know more about these amazing animals than most people do, yet this book was hugely educational. Watson explains suiform ancestry and history (all three types of suiform - pigs, peccaries and hippos - can be traced to a common ancestor 40 million years ago) in a way that brings the subject to life. Each species of modern-day pig (most of which are wild varieties) gets a chapter of its own. Their abilities, many of which have to be read to be believed, are outlined. Watson breathes vital life into every subject he writes. Even the most academic sections of the book are wildly entertaining due to the author's expert blending of profound insights, observations, anecdotes and natural history.My favourite story in the book describes an experience Watson had as a child in Africa. A local tracker named Jabula woke the young Watson just before dawn, having heard hyenas near the house. The tracker let the child accompany him as he followed hyena tracks to a forest clearing dyed red with fresh blood. Observing flattened grass, tracks of various sizes, blood-pool configurations and specific smells, Jabula determined that a battle had occurred between two adult hyenas and a warthog sow with three piglets. Other than the blood that coated the ground, the only thing left was a warthog tail, complete with tuft. Jabula picked up the tail, returned to the waiting Watson, and explained that the hyenas had devoured the adult warthog and her three babies, leaving only the mother's tail. He went on to explain that hyenas can eat and digest any bodily tissue, even bones and teeth. Traumatised by the sight of the bloodbath before him, the young Watson stared in sorrow, wishing he could have saved the pigs. Then he heard a sound, half snort and half sneeze, coming from a hole beneath a termite mound. He investigated and discovered a pair of fierce dark eyes staring up at him. Wedged inside the hole was the sole survivor of the massacre: a baby warthog who had reversed into this hideaway while hyenas slaughtered his mother and siblings. Jabula pulled the struggling little piglet out of the hole, placed him into a bag, then returned to the Watson home with young Lyall and the baby warthog. The young Watson raised the piglet, which ate anything and everything placed in front of him. This phenomenal appetite earned the wee warthog the name Hoover. He didn't stay a piglet for long, eating voraciously and growing rapidly. Soon, little Lyall's best friend and teacher was a fully grown tusked warthog. Hoover was free to roam the wilds, which he did daily, sharpening his tusks on tree stumps and leaving his scent at strategic points. Hoover, Lyall and Jabula went on long treks, with the warthog taking over from the tracker as leader, as his pig senses - especially smell and hearing - were far superior to those of the humans. After Watson had enjoyed three years of bliss living with Hoover, a sounder (the collective term for pigs) of warthogs passed through the region. One of these pigs was a female who fell instantly in love with the gigantic, majestically tusked Hoover. He felt the same way about her. So - after nuzzling Watson one last time - Hoover joined the sounder and wandered off with his comely young sow towards 'greener pastures along the Limpopo River'. This is the summarised version of events. Lyall Watson dedicates several pages to the story of finding Hoover, raising him, learning warthog language and behaviour from him, and - most of all - making an unbreakable emotional bond with him. I'm not ashamed to say that I was in floods of tears as I read Hoover's story. Its combination of sadness, hope, friendship, love and happiness is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Lyall Watson is a natural storyteller whose expertise at expressing emotions and memories through prose is breathtaking. Add to that his wealth of experience as a naturalist, biologist, palaeontologist, anthropologist and archaeologist, and you have one seriously mind-blowing writer.I recommend this book. It's not just educational and entertaining. It's a life-changing experience.