Babe the orphaned piglet is looking forward to a bright future after being taken under the wing of his own – Mother Goose.
Things looked bleak for the young animal, whose siblings all died when they were abandoned by their mum.
But the piglet’s luck changed when he was adopted by Lucy the two-year-old goose after a chance encounter when he escaped from his enclosure.
The pair, both orphans, have been inseparable ever since and spend hours snuggled up together.
Babe’s owner Diane Lewis, 42, who runs a small holding on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, said: “Babe was the only pig to survive from his brothers and sisters when their mother didn’t want them.
“We found him in the back of the enclosure hiding so we took him in.
“I wouldn’t dream of fairing up a bird and a pig normally but Baby was living in the house when one day he escaped and ran into Lucy’s enclosure. They just hit it off.
“In my experience you wouldn’t get a goose and a pig anywhere near each other put I don’t think they know what animal they are because they have never been around others geese or pigs and they are both still young.
“Lucy has really taken him under her wing. It’s an unusual combination but they look very cute when they are together and they are a bit favourite for tourists.”
Babe, who is just a few months old, is being hand reared by Diane using sheep’s milk, and when he is not wandering around the family home he is in the garage with Lucy, who was hatched from an incubated egg.
Diane, who lives with her partner Colin Stobbs, 49, and her daughter Bethany Lewis, 19, added: “Babe eats anything but her favourite is ready break. He can’t get enough of it.
“He means the world to us and we are really glad him and Lucy are such good friends.”
