If you didn’t read last week’s post you’d better do that now to understand what I’m talking about this week.  This is part two, and unfortunately I don’t have room to repeat myself.

I will remind you Hubby let the hog’s owner know we had Porky on our place and could hold him until the owner got off work to come pick him up.  Well, we got a response we weren’t expecting, and it went something like this:

“Cough!  Ahem, uh … how do I put it?  That pig ran off months ago, and we never saw him since.  We gave him up for dead and I took down his pen and housing.  So you see, we don’t even have a way to keep a pig anymore.”

And that’s how we became the proud owners of a potbellied pig.

Now the notion of keeping swine has been one we’ve entertained before, but only with the ultimate goal of raising bacon.  Learning that Piglet had been on the lam for at least half a year has raised my respect for him.  Yes, feral hogs are a reality where we live, but traveling in groups is part of how they survive.

Our lone-wolf porker not only foraged his own food and sought out shelter and avoided getting hit by cars, he evaded all the coyotes that prowl around here.  On that morning we found him, however, it was twenty-two degrees out (that’s negative-five for you Celsius people), and until the cats got involved he didn’t put up much resistance about moving in with the turkeys.

With winter setting in (we had a snowfall just a few days ago), he probably decided “This isn’t fun anymore.”  Piggy slept a lot on that first day we had him.  Now he’ll take off running if he feels such a notion.  We’ve built him a house out of straw (old hay bales … good insulation) and shine a heat light at its entrance.

I don’t think he’ll be plotting his next adventure right away.

Unless Choppers can become a grunt that teaches Tactical Coyote Evasion to the rest of the livestock, however, we don’t have much use for him that doesn’t involve heating a skillet.  But as I said, he’s earned my respect, which puts me in mind of the following joke:

A traveler spied a three-legged pig in a farmer’s yard.  He pulled into the driveway and knocked on the door of the house, and when the farmer opened it the traveler asked why that pig had three legs.  The farmer proceeded to praise the porker, calling him an exceptional hog and how it had saved them from a house fire and performed other wondrous exploits.  “That’s amazing,” the traveler responded, “but that still doesn’t tell me why it has three legs.”  The farmer stood straighter and solemnly replied, “Well, a pig that special, you don’t eat all at once!”

Don’t worry, we’ll try to find a good home for him.  In the meantime we’ll help him recover from his latest exploit.  Taking care of him brings me to mind of a lyric in this old-timey song:

All I need is a pig in a pen, and corn to feed him on.

All I need is a pretty little girl to feed him while I’m gone.

What a minute … aren’t I the one that qualifies as the pretty little girl?  Except….

Well, two out of three ain’t bad!

XXX

And now for a brief announcement:  If you’re a Smashwords customer or would like to become one (sign-up is free!), they’ll be holding their annual End of the Year sale beginning December 25 and ending January 1 in 2020.  Their e-books are available in a variety of formats.

The first book, Darkness upon the Land, of my four-part series will be available at half off.  The second book, Wail of the Tempest, will be 25% off.  And just between you and me, prices will be going up after the first of the year, so this is your chance for a bargain!  Just click on the button below:

The third book will be available this spring.  More updates will come as its debut approaches!