Here in central Appalachia – “The Heart of the Appalachian Mountains” – there is a vocabulary like no other. I used to be very articulate and grammatically correct- a language snob. Then I moved to Appalachia. 

Now I have an accent and have adopted the culture and vocabulary. One of my favorites is the whistle pig. You may know him as the groundhog. He even has his own day on February 2nd. 

When they sense danger is afoot, they sit up on their haunches and whistle! 

They live in colonies and travel in a network of underground tunnels. They go six feet deep and forty-nine feet long- each tunnel! 

Well, we have two tunnel doors 🙂 in our yard (on the back bank) and we get to see the chubby critters occasionally. However, when Bella and I went for a run (me in my chair) we saw a whistle pig near us. I grabbed by camera and here is what I got. In a couple of pics, I can see myself in his eyes!

Click on the photos to see them a bit bigger….

 

  
    
   
Have a great day and look out for the whistle pigs along the road!

Kat