Fauna of New York City

Last week I went up to New York to spend some time with my parents.

I like going up to New York for all the reasons you might expect: long walks through favorite neighborhoods of my youth, a bit of shopping in the groovy little stores you only find in New York, of course seeing my parents and my old friend Dizzy. 

Every day I took Dizzy out for walks along Morningside Park--known in the 80s as Dead Body Park, now a delightful landscape of dramatic slopes, rocky cliffs, flowering trees and diverse plant life.

And no shortage of exciting animal life too. In Morningside Park, we've seen a turkey, numerous ducks and geese, turtles, red-tailed hawks, falcons. I believe there was once a coyote spotted making her way through Morningside. On this occasion, I had the chance to add to this exciting and bizarre list.

On my last walk with Dizzy, I saw a woman up ahead with a short, fat, black dog with a skinny, rapidly wagging tail. I thought it might be my old friend Captain, the nondescript senior black dog who used to be out there sometimes when I was in grad school. 

But as I approached, I saw that the dog was squatter, the tail skinnier, than any I had seen before. And then I got even closer, saw that the tail was wagging furiously, and I thought...could it be?

It was! 

My parents had delighted and tantalized me every day with suggestions that if I went out at the right time, I might meet the pot-bellied pig. I thought they might be pulling my leg, as each day the pig failed to materialize. 

At last, here he was! Squiggles the pot-bellied pig lives with Tricia in an apartment in Morningside Heights. Tricia reports that he jumps right up into her bed and sleeps with her, although he also likes to go in his kennel sometimes. He loves contact, and sometimes he'll roll right over on his back for a belly rub from a stranger. 




His fur is long and very coarse and stiff. He makes delightful grunting noises--check them out:

What a smart, personable little fellow! Thanks Tricia for sharing for sharing your delightful friend with me.