Piggies, get back here!!!

After a hectic first week of the semester, it is finally the weekend. As my friend's mom used to say, " I haven't had time to sh*t or wind my watch." I got home from a work-related function and hurried about feeding animals and walking dogs before heading back out to a fund-raiser dinner for a local dog rescue, Westcoast Spay and Neuter Society.

As I let my dogs romp in the pasture, Sadie and Charley went rushing over to the shrubbery barking what I thought were shouts of greeting to the black lab, Daisy, who lives on property adjoining the northeast section of the pasture. But it wasn't Daisy my dogs were barking at. Daisy was safely in her house. Instead of Daisy's barking reply, Daisy's dad suddenly shouted to me that there was a bear just on the other side of the hedge from my dogs, on his driveway which parallels my pasture.

I hustled the dogs back to the house, and then went to put the piggies in. By this time the bear had mosied on down the driveway to the section directly alongside the pigyard, with only a wire fence and a narrow thicket of bamboo between piggies and bear.

Most of the pigs were already in the barn, having been fed before the dogs were walked, but scattered around the pig yard were four pigsters having their evening constitutional.

And do you think my sweet, obedient little piggies would come into the barn???? Not likely! Four little boys simply weren't ready for bed yet and ran straight into the bamboo, playing hide and seek with their Foster Mama.

Fortunately, I had picked up some eggplant and cucumbers from the clearance table at my favourite produce place, so I quickly popped into the barn and started scattering chunks of the veggies around the stall.

Eight piggies happily munched them right there. At the sound of happy pigs eating, the four little monkey pigs from outside came in, also. And before I could get the big barn doors closed, they grabbed large chunks of eggplant and rushed right back out to the bamboo again.

Piggies! Noooooo!!! What are you thinking???? That the bear should have veggies with his pork for dinner???????

As fast as I got one pig back in, another would slip out. Eventually, I closed the big barn doors, separating the recalcitrant four from the rest of the herd. Immediately they crowded the door, squealing and hollering (tell a piggy he can't go somewhere, and he will immediately want to go there!). Within a minute, Mama Soda came out the little piggy door in the wall of the barn, into the little pig potty yard to find out where her missing babies were.

I opened the gate from the little pig potty yard to the main pig yard, and all four boys raced into the potty yard and into the barn through the piggy door in the wall. Quickly I slammed the gate shut and locked it, all the piggies safely contained - or as safe as I can keep them.

By then, bear had lumbered back down the drive, climbed over the pasture fence, and was making his way across the back of the pasture, much to Martin's consternation. Fortunately, bear doesn't seem interested in Martin and he soon crossed the fence again and disappeared into the ravine on the neighbour's property.

Bear, you stay away from my piggies! And piggies, you come into the barn when I tell you to!

Despite a slightly late arrival at the fundraiser dinner, it was a lot of fun and a sold-out venue. And no pork with veggies.