Why is a pigs back so rigid?

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My wife and I bought a piglet for my daughter for her birthday. When you pick it up. It is simply stiff. We had been told that pigs do not have a vertebrate. So, the question is, Do they have a vertebrate or not? Why do the get so rigid in the back when you pick them up?

-- Paul and Donna Herrmann (phdw2@aol.com), June 17, 2001

Answers

I don't who or why someone told you that pigs do not have vertebra, but rest assured they do. They have a skeleton like all vertebrates. They probably get so rigid from lack of handling or lack of support of their feet when you pick them up. PLEASE, get a pig book ASAP. You have alot to learn. Best wishes, Terri.

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), June 17, 2001.

An edible birthday present? Or a pet for many years? Maybe she shouldn't name it.

-- Marcee King (thathope@mwt.net), June 18, 2001.

Of course she should name it. Hamlet is a good name, or Hamish, or Hammond (surname Eggs).

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 19, 2001.

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