Wiebke's Tribe: Sows and the City Boars

Yet another loss... :(

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I am devastated having had to make the decision to send my beautiful Tegeirian 'Orchid' to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday evening.
What started as a persistent major bloat late on Monday evening unfortunately turned out to a be severe case of fluid in the body cavity after a scan at the vets. Since the heart checked out fine, it was most likely caused by a major internal growth so we did the kindest thing under the circumstances since any operative success chances were extremely slim.

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It's not quite my adoption wait record although not far off, but had to wait nearly 5 months for Rhian (her nickname since I already had a Teggy) in 2020 between a full 10 weeks pregnancy watch, which meant that we missed the already organised socially distanced adoption handover by just 3 days when we suddenly went into Lockdow for yet another 10 weeks until travel restrictions had been lifted again by the end of May.
She is missing her 3rd 'Gotcha Day' (adoption anniversary) by less than 2 weeks and coming up to 4 years of age.

Rhian had a happy life here after she and her bereaved male companion were both surrendered to Merrypigs Guinea Pig Sanctuary in Stafford due to her having been mis-sexed but she had a narrow escape.

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She turned out to be quite a crackpot: I've never had a sow that dominance rumble-strutted so much! But with the help of gentle old Gethin 'Dusky' and quiet Carys 'Love' she eventually settled down well.
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When Gethin died in October 2021, Rhian very much took to handsome 4 years old widower Cai (formerly Kylo); he became her favourite husboar of all.
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Sadly Cai passed away very unexpectedly just a year later in October 2022 and Tegeirian - who by then had calmed down a lot - and her close bestie Carys were happy to join young, twice bereaved Tudur 'Tudor'/'Leader of the Tribe' and his third wife, timid Heilin 'Generous' to form a stable middle-aged quartet with very little fuss.
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Carys is clearly missing her close friend; she has been Rhian's foil and emotional bolster during her whole time with the Tribe. They were never far from each other and while their relationship has had its moments due to Rhian's dominance issues, Carys has been able to provide the stable anchor volatile Rhian needed.
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I have named Rhian 'Tegeirian' in memory of Tegan because I was still missing my little Welsh peru family which had passed away from old age some months ago a lot when I committed to her adoption but not so closely as to evoke painful memories.
The Welsh word for Orchid translates literally as 'beautiful and brightly shining like snow' - it very much describes Rhian!
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So sorry for your loss of gorgeous Tegeirian. She has obviously lived her life to the fullest with you and the tribe. 🌈
 
I’m so sad to hear about Tegeririan - she was living her best life with you and the tribe - sending much love and hugs to you as grieve the loss of this lovely piggy
 
I am so sorry that beautiful Tegeirian has joined her many friends at the rainbow bridge 😞 It’s been a busy place for your piggies 😞 Take good care of yourself as you grieve (((hugs))) Sleep tight Tegeirian xx
 
I am so sorry to hear you have had to say good bye to beautiful Tegeirian. Sending you my very best wishes at such a sad time.
 
So very sorry that had to make that last, awful decision for beautiful Tegeirian.
She had a lovely life with you and her companions
Holding you in my heart ♥️
 
I'm sorry to hear you've lost Tegerian, Wiebke. How awful. Hopefully Carys will perk up soon. How is Tudur and Heilin taking 'rhian's sudden departure?
 
Engel said:
I'm sorry to hear you've lost Tegerian, Wiebke. How awful. Hopefully Carys will perk up soon. How is Tudur and Heilin taking 'rhian's sudden departure?
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They are very quiet (as expected) but they are OK; they all knew that Rhian was very ill but have been very supportive of her in the last days of her life. Carys has taken over Tegeirian's favourite cave (a clean one) as her prime sleeping place in order to feel closer to her.
 
I have laid Tegeirian to rest in the big planter that I only started last year in February but that is already up to the rim with 13 piggies. She has joined her beloved Cai in there.

Her farewell bouquet features euphorbia 'Fireglow' for her lively personality, cornflowers, aquilegia, geranium phaeum and some forget-me-nots from the garden.

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I'd actually inquired initially after Tegeirian's companion, a white aby. But as he was a full boar, he was not eligible to come here. I was asked by the rescue lady whether I would like Rhian instead and was willing to wait while she was undergoing her 10 weeks pregnancy watch at the rescue. It took me a day or two to think about whether I was OK with adopting a piggy that was looking similar to my much missed peru family so soon after their passing from old age. I normally wait a few years with adopting a rough lookalike (never exactly the same) or - in the case of red and white abys, which are my favourite breed - I adopt one about every 4 years if one comes along at about the right time as I just like to have them around.

Only once a year do I treat myself to an adoption for looks or a special characteristic; otherwise it is special needs/being stuck in rescue, character compatibility or availabilty that drive an adoption. Quite a few of theTribe have been adopted sight unseen over the years but they have all been loved and cherished. Often the less showy ones have had the nicer personalities...

But I love them all and they are all special to me.
 
Oh @Weibke I'm so sorry to hear she has passed away. What a fabulous life she had with you and your herd!
She was a fiesty girl... and she hated having her hair cut!
I'm so glad you adopted her from us. She was obviously cherished by you for her whole life which is all we want for our little adoptees.
Thank you for giving her the best life.
RIP Sweet Tegeirian, over the Rainbow Bridge 🌈❤️
 
Trying to catch up with all the things that have not been done has kept and is still keeping me very busy when you have to live in the slow lane but I have finally found time for a photo shoot of the Cornish family. My two baby boys are now both over 800g and full-on teenagers. They will never grow large but they have passed the lower end of the regular adult weight range, as has Blodyn, who was just 170g when she arrived here at 3 weeks of age last October. Their bonds are thankfully both very stable ones. The whole family are still in regular contact through the bars. In fact, Brangwyn is now back to living alongside his parents again.

The rescued Cornish family trio (Modron 'Mother Goddess' and her first children Barcud 'Red Kite' and Millyn 'Sweet Violet'
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Naughty Brangwyn 'White Raven' and his two Black Widows Beti (Betty) and Begw (Peggy/'Little Pearl')
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Blodyn 'Flower' and her half-brother, full-on Baeddan 'Boar' (formerly Bronruddyn 'Robin')
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Wiebke said:
Trying to catch up with all the things that have not been done has kept and is still keeping me very busy when you have to live in the slow lane but I have finally found time for a photo shoot of the Cornish family. My two baby boys are now both over 800g and full-on teenagers. They will never grow large but they have passed the lower end of the regular adult weight range, as has Blodyn, who was just 170g when she arrived here at 3 weeks of age last October. Their bonds are thankfully both very stable ones. The whole family are still in regular contact through the bars. In fact, Brangwyn is now back to living alongside his parents again.

The rescued Cornish family trio (Modron 'Mother Goddess' and her first children Barcud 'Red Kite' and Millyn 'Sweet Violet'
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Naughty Brangwyn 'White Raven' and his two Black Widows Beti (Betty) and Begw (Peggy/'Little Pearl')
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Blodyn 'Flower' and her half-brother, full-on Baeddan 'Boar' (formerly Bronruddyn 'Robin')
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They all look amazing 🤩 What a beautiful family!
 
Claire W said:
Aw they’re such a beautiful family and are all thriving from your great care ❤️ I’m still gutted not to have come home with one of your baby boys x
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So am I! But Baeddan definitely got on the very wrong side of your Ella...
 
Merab's Slave said:
They are looking so well and it’s lovely to see them thriving.
@Wiebke , @Bill & Ted you must be so pleased about the outcome of what could have been a real tragedy without your efforts.
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Yes, I can’t quite believe the three dirty little scraps are the same piggies we caught and the babies, well, are just adorable 😊
 
Merab's Slave said:
They are looking so well and it’s lovely to see them thriving.
@Wiebke , @Bill & Ted you must be so pleased about the outcome of what could have been a real tragedy without your efforts.
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It's always been my last remaining piggy bucket wish to adopt a readymade family or group at some point. The Cornish family have just come along at the right time and have cheered me up and kept me going when I really needed it.

They have had a lucky escape, especially since we do not know what happened to the dad of Barcud and Millyn and whether he was with them or not.

It was a huge relief for me that Modron's pregnancy has gone well and that she hasn't had a big litter (considering that it was not her first birth) so I can keep the family together as much as possible and hopefully give them a happy and secure future.
 
Wiebke said:
It's always been my last remaining piggy bucket wish to adopt a readymade family or group at some point. The Cornish family have just come along at the right time and have cheered me up and kept me going when I really needed it.

They have had a lucky escape, especially since we do not know what happened to the dad of Barcud and Millyn and whether he was with them or not.

It was a huge relief for me that Modron's pregnancy has gone well and that she hasn't had a big litter (considering that it was not her first birth) so I can keep the family together as much as possible and hopefully give them a happy and secure future.
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There was someone who said they had seen a black one? The only black one we saw dash into some bushes was a rat, so not sure. This woman was selling piggies a few months before by all accounts so I assume these three might have been the last lot which she dumped, but we will never really know A sad start but a happy ending!
 
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