# Do pigs wiggle their tails when happy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 10, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634 "2003-01-10T00:07:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/1 "2003-01-10T00:07:03Z")

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I was skinning a pig at work today and wondered if they wiggled their tails when they were happy.

I need to know, the boss asked me to make it’s tail wiggle, which I will make it do… But I wonder if they would do this naturally?

Thanks in advance.

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**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/2 "2003-01-10T00:08:32Z")

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its

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**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/3 "2003-01-10T01:31:38Z")

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One doubts that you could make a pig happy by skinning it.

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**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/4 "2003-01-10T01:40:22Z")

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My pot-bellied pig used to wag it’s tail when it was happy.

But like Stypticus said–I highly doubt you’ll make it happy while it’s in fear of its life.

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**Author:** ![flapcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/5 "2003-01-10T10:13:05Z")

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Hi there. The pig isn’t real, it’s for a commercial…  
It must look happy, and wiggle its tail.  
Thanks for setting my mind at rest, I would never skin a real pig - especially a live one. Ugh!

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-pigs-wiggle-their-tails-when-happy/147634/6 "2003-01-10T14:07:49Z")

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Yeah, I’ve seen them wag their tails. It’s cute when they’re small and terrifying when they’re huge.