Beer? Did someone say beer? -- 2010

This pig has achieved local fame as one of St. Croix’s beer-drinking pigs, a rain-forest “attraction” for tourists. He is eagerly awaiting his next beer while the remains of the last froth down his chin. As long as he keeps drinking, he has nothing to fear from the barbeque pit.

In contrast, most goats do have something to fear. Stew goat, curry goat and goat water (soup) are favorite local dishes. Of course, a few like the billy below have higher value doing their jobs in the fields. The pigs and goats, animals eaten and not eaten, remind me of my grandfather who loved his cows and even would name them — and yet every fall would personally butcher one for meat for the winter. “Good old Bessie” he’d say as he presented a plate of steaks to the family for dinner. And he was right. She was good.

Billy - 2010