
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 26, 1994                   TAG: 9403280155
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER NOTE: below
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOOK OUT BELOW: AIRBORNE SWINE STOPS TRAFFIC

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT you had heard it all, a pig really does fly. But this one isn't likely to attempt the trick again.

Attention, anyone who's ever uttered that adage: ``I'll do that when pigs fly.''

It's time to ante up - 'cause Roanoke resident Bill Thompson's seen it happen.

Thompson was driving south Thursday on the Roy L. Webber Highway when his pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, Dinner, decided to take the dive.

``He just bolted out the window; I thought he was a goner,'' he said.

As the pig plunked onto the road, Thompson, in a reflex action, slammed on the brakes of his Ford Fairlane, sliding to a stop across the right lane.

Traffic in the other two lanes also screeched to a stop behind him. Somehow the 50-pound pig avoided getting squashed.

Thompson swept the swine up in his arms and rushed to a veterinarian on Peters Creek Road. Dr. Lucinda Hodges declared that Dinner had suffered only minor scratches and bruises.

``That pig truly is miraculous,'' the veterinarian said. ``I was kind of expecting a mangled mess.''

In addition to 2-year-old Dinner, Thompson also owns a 4-month-old pot-bellied pig named Jessabelle. Thompson, a bus driver for the Roanoke school system, often takes his two prize pigs to schools to entertain the children.

He was headed to Grandin Court Elementary School when Thursday's fiasco happened.

Thompson said Dinner had ridden in the car's back seat dozens of times.

``He sits back there just like a dog,'' he said.

Thompson only recently started leaving the back windows down so the pig could get some air. He won't do it again soon.

Dinner became startled when a book bag fell from the car's back window onto the seat where the pig was sitting. That's when he leapt out the window.

Thompson said Dinner can do such tricks as sitting and standing on his hind legs, but he probably won't try flying again.

``I can guarantee you he won't get anywhere close to a car door anytime soon,'' he said. ``He remembers; that pig's as smart as a tack.''

by CNB