In this article, Why Can’t Pigs Look Up At The Sky, we take a look at an unusual phenomenon that has been around for hundreds of years. It is common knowledge among people who have lived on farms or in rural communities that pigs cannot look up into the sky.
Skeptics claim this is simply just an old wives’ tale like their curly tails. Science claims it’s due to the structure of the pig’s neck and the fact that they have very little neck musculature at all. Whatever the case may be, there is no denying this in and of itself is an interesting phenomenon.
Why can’t pigs look up at the sky?
Anatomically speaking, it is true that pigs cannot look up into the sky. This is due to a couple of factors, one of which includes neck muscle and bone structure. Pigs are not equipped with the same neck muscles and bones that allow other animals such as dogs and cats to do the things they can do.
However, they can still tilt their neck a little bit, but not much. This is why they are often seen slightly tilting their heads when being spoken to or sometimes while being petted. But if you’ve ever tried to feed a pig by hand, you will notice they have great difficulty doing so.
Pigs are proscribing animals, meaning the rest of most or all of their time lying down. To do this, they have to rest on something at a slight incline. In short, their necks cannot extend vertically because the skull is fixed on a little hill of bone that protrudes out of the spine.
The lack of neck muscle makes it harder for pigs to look upwards or move their heads in general, and this also means they can’t really run around much at all. On top of which, as mentioned before, they spend just about all day lying down anyway, so it’s not like they are going to be looking up at anything particularly useful or interesting anyway!
Why is my pig always looking down?
If you are worried about your pig always looking down and not being able to look up at you, despite the fact there are many theories on why pigs cannot look up. While we may never know the exact truth, it is important to understand that even if they were capable of looking at things in the sky, they probably would not be all that interested.
Pigs tend not to move around much during most of the day because their lifestyle revolves around foraging for food. They eat basically all day long and only go off to take a nap now and then. Pigs can sleep pretty much anywhere too; whether it’s lying on a deckchair or a blanket in someone’s house, pigs can do this quite easily for short naps throughout the day.
So when you see your pig, it is probably lying down looking down at the floor because they would much rather be eating a meal than anything else. If they could look up into the sky, chances are you’d probably only catch them doing so when taking an occasional nap.
Why do pigs always sleep on their side?
There are many different reasons why pigs sleep on their side. This is probably because when they rest, they need to have one ear facing forward and one rear-facing back so that no sound gets missed. They also tend to like it because this way they can be ready to run away from danger or predators at any time with just a quick turn of the head.
Pigs also enjoy sleeping in mud which acts as a moisturizer for their skin and helps protect them from bugs, parasites, and the sun’s UV rays too. When they lie down in the mud that has dried up, you’ll notice that sometimes their hair will actually stick out in all directions.
In addition to providing protection, sleeping on mud may help pigs digest food better by keeping the digestive tract’s mucous membranes moist and primed for nutrient absorption.
How do pigs see?
Pigs do not have particularly good vision. They are actually legally blind, meaning they cannot see at all in the traditional sense. However, they have a very advanced sense of smell and can detect even the slightest changes around them that could alert them to dangers such as predators or nearby humans (for example).
In fact, pigs rely on their sensitive noses so much that if you cover their snout with something like a metal pipe, they will not be able to find food oftentimes! This is because most of what they feel and taste when foraging comes from sensing through their mouths; keep this up and typically their health begins to decline.
In short, pigs are pretty easy targets for anyone who wants one gone. It’s no wonder hunters adore them. And for anyone looking to get rid of a pig, it is very easy to do just that: simply cover their mouth and nose with something! It will be almost impossible for them to eat or otherwise find food accurately and they starve and die from being unable to breathe.
What other animals can’t look up into the sky?
The truth is, most animals that live on earth cannot look up into the sky. This includes cats and dogs! Because of their neck structure, it makes them pretty much unable to do so.
There are a few other exceptions of course, such as giraffes and camels (from what we can tell). Some birds spend most of their flight time in the air rather than on the ground and these have been observed looking around while in mid-flight. And ostriches (another bird) will sometimes stand in a similar position to pigs at times: with their necks outstretched as if they were looking up at something high up in the sky.
Conclusion
So, why can’t pigs look up at the sky? Due to the biological architecture of their neck muscles and spine, a pig cannot look completely upward.
For anyone interested in more information about pigs, we suggest taking a look at some of our other articles such as
And don’t forget to subscribe to our blog and share this article with your friends on social media! Thanks for reading and happy farming!
Sarah Lane has been a farm wife since 2010 and mother of two children for nearly as long. She and her husband, Jonathan, live on a small farm in Texas where they raise dairy goats and beef cattle as well as chickens for eggs and meat. In addition to growing their own hay, straw and garden produce, the Lane family works with other nearby farms to source organic grain from which they make artisan bread sold at local farmer’s market.
