Cannon

The editor of the Journal of the American Cavy Breeders Assoc put out a call for little short essays on the first cavy we ever owned. I can remember her distinctly and so wrote the following which was put in the journal several years ago. Hope you enjoy it.



I blame Jim XXXX. I was eight- he was an older man. How was I to know he would start a passionate lifelong affair- with cavies?

In the summer of 1962, my father brought home a pair of cavies he had purchased from a boy who lived in Caldwell, Ohio. Jim XXXX. Dad got the sexes mixed up and so we named the pig that eventually turned out to be a boar- Lady, and the pig that turned out to be a sow- Cannon. Cannon was a golden agouti American with a white snip and it soon became apparent that she was increasing. Imagine our delight one morning when she came out of the box in her cage with two little perfect babies! Lots of babies later, my mother forced us to give up Lady (boar). We found Lady a good home with our bus driver. He had watched us carry the pigs to school for show- and- tell and wanted one for his children. Cannon lived to be 8 years old- I was in High School when she died. She was buried with full Athenian honors in our backyard in a wooden coffin that my younger brother lovingly assembled. And I will unashamedly tell you we mourned her passing. Cannon was such a gentle creature-she would sit under your chin by the hour and hear your sorrows and joys. She was a wonderful ambassador for the species. I have had many pigs over the years who have been very special to me in some fashion or another, but no pig has ever been more special than Cannon. She was indeed some pig. Thanks, Jim.