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Meet Ziggy, the Island’s Most Famous Pig

Meet Ziggy, the Island’s Most Famous Pig

Ziggy, St. John's famous pig

For those of you who follow News of St. John on Facebook, you may have read last Friday how we were pretty excited about receiving our 2,703rd “like.” To be honest, we’re excited about each and every like we receive, but this one was different. Why you ask? Because we were “liked” by the island’s most famous pig.

Meet Ziggy.

Ziggy Hartness has lived on St. John for the past three years. His “mother” Kristin Hartness decided a few years back that she wanted a pig as a pet, so she went online and found a breeder in Orange Park, Florida. Little Ziggy was only four pounds when Kristin picked him up from the St. Thomas airport. The breeder told her that Ziggy was a “mini teacup” pig and that he would weigh no more than 25 pounds.

Ziggy Hartness as a piglet
Ziggy Hartness as a piglet

Hmmm … I think they were wrong.

Ziggy High Tide

“It’s just more to love,” Kristin said with her cute North Carolina accent.

Over the last three years, Ziggy – all 220 pounds of him – has become a local island celebrity. He lives over near Gallows Point with his parents – Kristin Hartness and Jay Yontz – and is a frequent visitor along Cruz Bay beach. You may have seen him pop into the Beach Bar from time to time or perhaps at Deli Grotto where he is treated to a grilled cheese sandwich every weekend. You may have even seen him on Facebook. Ziggy’s a pretty popular pig with more than 1,600 “friends.”

So what’s it like to be the mother of a 220-pound pig?

“He’s perfect,” Kristin said. “He really is. He understands sentences. It’s like talking to a kid. He’s my beautiful, adorable precious little pumpkin.”

And just like many children, Ziggy has been known to thrown a temper tantrum here and there.

“Everyone on the beach can hear him when that happens,” Kristin said. “He’s very emotional.”

Fortunately for Kristin and Jay, Ziggy is house trained. He is very clean and eats two meals a day. His favorites are fish salads with all the toppings, lasagne and fruits and vegetables.

He has a great personality, according to Kristin, and loves all of the attention he gets from locals and tourists.

“He loves people,” she said. “And they just love him. They absolutely love him. They want to get their picture taken with him. Mostly everybody just goes crazy over him.”

So the next time you’re out and about near Cruz Bay beach, give a look around and you might just see Ziggy,  the island’s most famous pig.

24 thoughts on “Meet Ziggy, the Island’s Most Famous Pig”

  1. Kristin, Jay and Ziggy are all a lot of fun. We visit with them along the beach every trip we take to St John. Wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t!

  2. When they put that since removed “NO” sign up I thought we’d seen the last of Ziggy. It’s funny to watch him roll in the sand, half in and half out of the water. Just livin’ the life.

  3. Ziggie is sweet and wonderful until he chases my vulnerable ACC rescue and me from FrankBay past Grande Bay with her in panic mode looking back frantically

  4. I stayed at grande bay this past fall and my favorite thing to do was get up in the morning , go to my balcony and watch ziggy walk the beach every morning! Just another of the many reasons I love St. John so much!

  5. Love the Ziggy boy. Pigs are very smart, some studies indicate that they are smarter than dogs. He is lucky to have such loving parents.
    Sad that the breeder said that he was a “mini tea cup” pig. There is no such thing. People are duped into that sham thinking that they are getting a very small pig. The breeders usually show pictures of the parents who are really not adult pigs themselves.

  6. I saw Ziggy et al on the beach in front of Motu last week during the love City musical event. what a HOOT!! Great memory on a wonderful vacation.

  7. I just came back from beautiful St. John and I had the privilege of seeing Ziggy, the adorable pig. He was walking up and down Cruz Bay Beach and you could see that he enjoyed all the attention. In my opinion, he thinks he is a dog. Can’t wait to see him again next year! Love that Ziggy!

  8. We got to “see” Ziggy last November, while vacationing on St. John. He was strolling down the beach, headed for Deli Grotto for his grilled cheese. We did not, however, get to meet him. We were boarding ferry over to St.Thomas. We are sooo in hopes we can meet him when we go back, if he’s back from his “world tour”.

  9. Carol and I just met Ziggy and Kristen at Reidsville Lake campground in Reidsville, NC. He is a good looking fella and Kristen seems to be proud of him. First time our 3 toy poodles have ever seen a pig. They were puzzled and said “my what a big dog”. LOL

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