Mar 202016
 

Warthog’s Bar and Grill

 

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Spike’s Older Cousin Chip

 

So What Happened to Wild Warthog’s Then?

This is a true account of how man and beast develop symbiotic relationships in the oddest of places. Our tale today comes from the African highlands, played out in one of the beautiful lodges catering to visitors from all over the world. This is how we were introduced to today’s star…

Imagine you’ve just had a wonderful afternoon game drive, soaking up the sights and sounds of the Zimbabwean bush. Now you’re relaxing with a soothing nightcap in front of a lovely fire in the lodge’s bar before heading to bed when in strolls one of the biggest, fully-grown wild warthogs you’ve ever seen.

Crazy, huh?

No, the really crazy part comes when this wild warthog ambles over to the bartender who, without a word (the bartender, that is), hands him a cushion!

The enormous piggy then takes the cushion to the fireplace, carefully puts it down and stretches out, full length with his gigantic tusks resting just-so on the comfy pillow, trotters to the fire, and goes to sleep!

Apparently, he spends all the cold nights there so this is a regular routine. In the morning, he’s off into the bush again, meaning he’s just a wild warthog part of the time. If the barman isn’t there, the resourceful hog will grab a pillow off one of the couches!
 

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Spike Doing What He does Best

 

Wild Warthog for Dinner

Spike – for that’s his name – pretty much spends his time in front of the fire when he’s not visiting the kitchen to see what tid-bits are on offer from the chef. This accounts for a large part of his size – I had to. As a result, he’s become a huge visitor attraction and guests love going to the bar just to see this fat pig sleeping by the fireside! Really, its only to see the pig. They are going to rename the bar ‘Spikes Bar’.

Actually, it all started with those tid-bits, when this wily – but very skinny – wild warthog arrived at the lodge one day looking for scraps from the kitchen. As things in nature do, his lodge-dwelling life developed from there.

Spike is quite an attraction but he’s a massive beast. The lodge owner had asked that his tusks be removed because pigs tend to be so unpredictable and he’s probably quite dangerous. The request was diplomatically declined by the vet who felt that Spike, being a wild pig half the time, would be at a disadvantage in the bush.

Chip, Spike’s cousin – and a completely wild warthog – derived his name from chipping off the end of his one tusk, perfectly illustrating just how much warthogs use their tusks. Spike’s been in this routine for a long time and remains well-behaved in public so for now, warthog and tusks shall not be parted.

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Meet Our Authors: The Wildmoz team, Cari and Moz, have a lifelong passion for the Bushveld and share adventures and stories about Africa's good things. Wildmoz is Africa - the cradle of life! Travel writing about wildlife, African folklore, wildlife art, Kruger Park and wildlife safari info! Taste life as it is in Africa.
 Posted by on March 20, 2016