The ranchers plan to send samples of the cotton candy-colored pork to scientists at UC Davis.

When ranchers in Morgan Hill, CA shot and cut open a wild hog, they realized what they had in front of them was much more than your average swine. The pig’s insides were a cotton-candy blue color.

A writer named GlendiTEK posted the photos of the fluorescent pig over on the website ArtBell.

GlendiTEK, who claims he is a relative of the California ranchers who found the pig, says that the animal is healthy and normal in every way—except for its blue-colored colored fat, which runs throughout its entire body.

The farmers are unsure what caused the odd-colored fat, but plan on sending samples to scientists at UC Davis to try and better understand what contributed to the otherworldly hue.

But this isn’t the first time someone has discovered odd-colored pork.

Back in 2011, ChinaSmack reported a case of glowing blue pork—but in this instance, it was the muscle and not the fat that was blue. The Chinese reporter that went to check out the glow-in-the-dark pork chops reported that the meat was still blue even after being washed, and that the color could be seen on the hands of those that handled the meat.

https://twitter.com/stompsingapore/status/578421154110550016

After a second case of the glowing blue pig meat was found in China, scientists tried to explain the phenomenon, and eventually settled on Secondary Bacterial Contamination as the cause. The same scientists concluded that the meat was safe to eat after being cooked properly.

While it’s possible that the pig in California also had bacterial contamination, the way the blue color was isolated in the pig’s fat leaves us looking for answers. Could the fat’s color be a result of a genetic defect? That was the case with Skyler, the Maine lobster pictured below.

Photo: Facebook

We’ll be waiting to hear the results from UC Davis, but until then, we’re thinking blue eggs and ham could be the next big breakfast trend.

[via ArtBell, ChinaSmack]