Experiencing a monsoon season, there can be many days of inactivity with little to report, and hence the blog has been quiet. Well today there was something a little different.
I moseyed down to 21 Coconuts, one of two restaurants still open on the beach, for brunch. While sitting waiting for my food, I noticed a dog chewing on something down near the water. Once he moved away, the crows were right in there. Hmm...must be something good to eat down there. I asked one of the waiters, Pinto, about it and he said it was a feral pig that had wandered too far out on the beach at six in the morning and had been attacked by a dozen or so dogs that live on the beach. Food is a bit scarce for the canines during the monsoon season as there are few foreigners to provide leftovers and the locals don’t treat dogs with the same fondness as most westerners do, so it’s not surprising that the dogs took it down.
I’ve seen pigs on the borders of the beach a number of times but they usually stick close to the tree line, providing a quick escape route if need be. There were many new little piglets too who usually stick close to mama pig but I figured it must have been a little guy that strayed too far and got caught out, paying a heavy price for his mistake.
But it was now 11am and most of the dogs look satiated, lying lazily on the beach catching up on sleep missed during their nocturnal prowling. They all looked content and not bothered about the unusual meal on the beach...perhaps they have already had their share but then how could there be any left five hours later?
Finishing my meal, I decided to investigate. The victim wasn’t a piglet but a pretty full grown pig, well what was left of a pig. All that remained was the head, spinal column and legs, everything in between gone. It must have been quite the take down as this pig must have weighed 50-60 pounds and all of the beach dogs are half that size.
Manjeet, a waiter from the neighboring restaurant, the Sea Horse (a place I frequent infrequently as their food isn’t as good as Coconut’s), had been tasked by someone to dispose of the carcass. The first strategy was to tie a rope around the hooves and drag it out into the ocean. That didn’t seem like a good plan to me as surely it would just wash back in...and it did on the first attempt. I have to give Manjeet some credit. Fully clothed he pulled the remains of the swine out into the water again up to his armpits. But of course, within minutes it was back up on the sand.
Manjeet hauls the pig out to sea:
But the pig just floated back in:
Change of tactics. Ajit, one of the other waiters at the Sea Horse, brought out a shovel and a deep hole was dug. Manjeet plopped the pig in, it was covered up and then to prevent the dogs from digging it up, they dragged a pile of branches over the spot...job done. It sure made for interesting breakfast entertainment. Poor pig...
The hole is dug:
Manjeet drags it over to the grave:
All this hardwork blew out his sandal:
RIP Pig:
If you didn’t find this posting interesting, well “I’m sorry to boar you”...
