Saturday, April 24, 2010

pigs and more pigs





Since Tortillas crossing it took me a few days to get moving again after that long struggle to try and keep Tory with me longer. And poor Panda man being stuck in that shed is sucking the energy out of me everyday. I have lost track of how many guys i have had down here and the quest to get it finished is still before me.

So with Tory's paddock empty i wasn't really ready to put a pig in there but Panda wins over what i am ready for. So i got the water dish filled and raked up some of his bedding and out walked Panda into the sun. We casually walked up pasture and past the horses who were eating there hay. About 45 minutes of meandering Panda caught scent of unspayed Cassandra. It took a while to coax him around but he followed chomping and foaming at the mouth all the way. The fence fighting with his neighbor Don Juan started right away and the two of them raced back and forth up there fence lines. Panda alive with the scent of the females here was so fired up he was beside himself. Hunks of the wood on the bottom rails were ripped right off by his agitated self . He rooted his water dish and then cooled himself off by rolling in the wet soil he rooted up.

I couldn't stand to watch him and came in the house hoping he would settle down in a few hours. My sister stopped by a few hours later and when she came in the house i asked her did you see Panda Man? How could she miss him??? Then she looked out the window and said " he looks like he is in the pen next door".

Fearing a huge fight already in progress i leaped to my feet and we raced outside to get him out of there. That fat pig climbed over the fence, in his quest to get to lady Cassandra!!! Nancy and I got him out of there just in time to see Don poke his head out the door way to see what all the commotion was about. Panda followed us all the way back to his shed and i have never seen a pig more happy to be home. He tossed himself into his straw in sheer exhaustion. Pandas pen must be fortified.


I had 14 little kids visit from a Day care Centre so that was fun, cute little kids in pink, piglet t's and hand crafted piggy masks. Patsy had prepared little juice box lunches for them all so they had lunch here on the picnic tables. Casanova, Winnie and Dylan circled the camp for left overs.

Yesterday afternoon i received a call from Jeff who I met when he reached out to me to home his lone piggy. He worked long hours and is a single dad with shared custody of his daughter. At the time i was at the old place and was doing my best to not take in any more pigs and after his visit he understood and could see i already had enough on my plate and left me with a nice donation.

The reason for his call was in desperation, his home had burnt down that very day and he needed Sherman the piggy out of there. So today Sherman arrived and he wagged his tail and according to Jeff he has never seen his pig so alive!! My tears of sorrow for this little pig have been replaced by thoughts of his good
fortune at arriving here today. This little 4 1/2 year old ,one eared piggy moving into Tortillas paddock seemed so right.

6 comments:

tbsomeday said...

what a beautiful set up you have!
loved the piggy pictures...there was some drama in that story..i'm glad it all turned out for the best!
darned boys :)
nice of you to take in yet another piggy friend!
wish we lived closer and i could bring my girls to come visit--they would have a grand time!

Janice Gillett said...

I bet there is a piggy Sanctuary near you to visit!! Most of them down there are a ton bigger and better funded then here! But thanks Waylon's Mom , i do the best i can one piggy at a time.

Colleen said...

Love it that the kids came by! How did that go? Had they been there before?

When the does the randy Panda get neutered? Poor bugger....all that testosterone cursing through his body at the lovely Cassandra. It must have given you a heart fright to see him in that other pen! EEEEKS!!

Thinking about Sherman...Janice, you blow me away. I know of very very few humans who consistently step up to the plate when asked. ( when space is available ) I know you spend HORDES of hours answering people's questions and inquiries. That in itself is increasingly ( I suspect )time consuming. I think you should author a series of books with individual stories of the pigs. :))

Oh! I was conversing with someone the other day about different specie rescues. He asked if I had heard about the *pig lady* in Maple Ridge. I chuckled. I gave him your blog addy and told him you were now the *pig lady* in Mission.

Janice Gillett said...

the kids.. well picture Roscoe jumping up from the mud on the fence rail and splattering a little kid from top to bottom LOL. the little boy was a warrior and i told him it was good luck LOL

Panda can't be neutered until he looses a ton of weight. Not until fall i suspect... poor guy all of this because some one couldn't be bothered to take care of him and get him neutered. I'm going to have to sheet the inside of his pen with tin roofing.. i don't know what else do do.

Sherman has settled right in, he is a very good pig!!

I actually have started a book but then my house sold and chaos lol Yes a ton of hours in pig support ..especially right now with this new ignorant teacup craze. Its a repeat of what happened in the 80's..

Rattie said...

You have such a great set-up and even a bigger heart!

Cohen, my new boy, can sympathize with Panda. Cohen is not neutered yet and is surrounded by girls.

Janice Gillett said...

Thanks Rattie Crew , we can never do enough for them!!!