Orange County Livestock

Newborn Piglets
Originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

Once again, another picture from the Orange County Fair. This time, we have a picture of the newly born piglet litter that was not even 2 days old at the time we had seen them. They had actually grown quite a bit, I imagine, and were either feeding vigorously or napping. Can you imagine a better life than eat and sleep all day? Then again, most likely some of these poor little beasts will be shipped off to be someone's breakfast at some point. I don't like to think about that very much myself, but it's a fact of life.

Now, this brings us back to the part of the fair many people would sooner avoid if they're more used to the urban sensibility, the livestock. While I find it fascinating to see the cattle, chickens, and other various animals on display, the smell would tend to drive the less curious away from the bins and pens. You do learn quite a bit, like the gestation period of the average rabbit is only around 31 days! They also happened to have a few informative maps regarding the agricultural make-up of the entire state of California. I never knew that San Bernardino County was mostly known for it's dairy, fancy that.

Thinking about it, not much about the fair livestock changes a whole lot. I believe we also managed to catch a sow with her newborns last year as well. Somehow, it doesn't get old. Maybe it's the fact that it's similar to a zoo in that we don't actually see these types of animals in our every day lives. For every llama that I stare at with confusion in my eyes, there's someone's daughter staring wide-eyed as they witness their first live cow and pet the newly shorn sheep. The fair may be about commerce, eating like a madman, and twirling in circles 'til you puke, but it can also be pretty educational.