I for one had never experienced this; ditto City Boy, until today that is; today, we bought pigs.
A frightened pig (actually five of them) let out a blood curdling scream that rent the air and caused me to wonder, momentarily, if I might wet myself; fortunately this did not happen.
While these are not technically wild pigs, I’d be surprised if the dictionary doesn’t come up with a special category for this kind of pig:
1. porcine domesticata wildus: domestically reared pig, essentially unhandled; beware of screams emanating from such beast, equaling that of a throng of wild banshees
Good Heaven’s
Once we got them home, they seemed to settle into some sort of cat and mouse game with us, as we tried to finish construction on their shelter before the rain tonight. We puttered and hammered, coming and going; they grunted profusely, and took great care to each cram themselves into the same corner of the pen as his or her litter mate (I’m still not sure of the gender of one of these little porcine darlings); on top of each other as necessary to accomplish this goal.
Lest anyone here be under the delusion that we bought pigs because we like the way they smell, I’ve named them “Ham” and “Bacon”; Ham is the larger, red pig; Bacon smaller and black; these names are designed to evoke thoughts of the table and possibly some particular holiday with gastronomical significance. We are not, I repeat, we are NOT raising pigs for the heck of it, the fun of it, or because we can’t wait to have the aroma of fresh pig dung wafting through our home like a warped air freshener; on the contrary. We are raising pigs to eat. Period.
The fun stuff just happens to be part of the deal; I’ve heard pigs are smart, and that they tend to be the clowns of the barnyard. I’m counting on this, because my children are less than happy about the prospect of helping with their upkeep.
Wait! GOATS are the clowns of the barnyard! Too late now; just please don’t tell City Boy, or those of the Seven Dwarves who still live at home; maybe we’ll have fun yet.
 |
| Ham and Bacon |
When I was little, I went with my family where we got four pigs to raise for food. They were loud too. I love reading your farm life stories. I am a tad envious but will be able to enjoy the fruits anyway as a friend of ours up here just purchased land and is willing to let up keep animals at their place. I do miss privacy though.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy things are going well for you. I miss you!!!
Well, I can tell you my love that your red pig is female. We finally got close enough to ours last night to tell that the ginormous red one is female, the smaller red one is male, and the black one is female. The girls rule the pen once again. Hope yours are doing well. : ) Love your guts for embarking on this journey. I really hope your family does not curse the Cherry name in 6 months.
ReplyDeleteI used to look after my neighbors farm when she was ill. I'd take the whey from the goat's milk and mash it with apples and corn. Those guys just schnuzzled me like a puppy.
ReplyDeleteSure was hard to eat them later. I had to think really hard about the 900 pound boar who tossed me across the barn once and opened my leg from hip to ankle. HIM I could eat anytime!