The Wild Wilderness

Wildlife proliferates in abundance in and around our little abode on the hill.

Demanding Pig

First off, let me catch you up on pig progress: she's getting bigger.  And our little porker is quite the digger.  She's got her little yard dug up in no time--which is what ya want a pig to do.  No tractors needed.  And she's become rather spoiled.  Every time someone comes over for a visit she expects a treat--some lettuce, fresh corn on the cob or an apple. 

Happy as a pig in . . . 

We've got more baby chicks too.  While our freezer is full of lovely plump chickens, we thought we'd share with the rest of the community.  My BIL had requests galore; lots of friends, and friends of friends wanted to buy some.  So most of the new batch of 80 chicks are spoken for.

More Baby Chicks

The seven laying hens are doing well too.  Did I mention they're vicious killers?  There used to be eight of them, but one of them showed weakness and got pecked to death--no word of a lie!  And let's not talk about the two or three meat chickens that suffered a similar fate.  However, I have no qualms tellin' you 'bout the poor frog that innocently--and quite accidentally--hopped into the chicken yard.  One lucky hen snatched it up lickety-split and ran off to a corner.  The others noticed and promptly gave chase.  Talk about battle royale!  One hen finally swiped it out of the beak of the first hen.  She ran off the other way.  The rest were in hot pursuit.  Another chicken got hold of the frog and there was a short tug of war until the frog got split in two!  Well, suffice to say that two hens had a feast while the rest picked at the leftovers.

The Egg Layers Hanging Out Under their Shelter

And did I introduce the latest member of the family?  Meet Sindal.  Isn't she cute?  She's got the funniest "meow"--reminds me of a monkey.

Cat in Motion

She had a good home, but started urinating all over it.  So BIL kindly offered to take her in on the condition she become an outside cat.  Thus far, she has relished in the role of guard cat.  The squirrels and chipmunks have stayed away.  And many a mole and frog have been offered as gifts to the various family members residing in the farmhouse.  But I think the most shocking sight was to find an injured chipmunk hauling himself to the treeline.  I felt bad for the little critter, but if he ever got into the house, he'd mess up the wiring and insulation worse than any mouse ever could . . . 

Sindal Hears a Squirrel

And even the in-house cat is still earning her keep.  Good ol' Patches was found running in circles upon my bed one night.  My kids thought that perhaps she was chasing a bird in the room.  When we turned on the light, we found it was not a bird.  It was a bat!  Thankfully the bat had decided to "rest" on the curtains giving the cat a chance to finally pounce upon her prey.  Go Patches go!  It was a challenge to grab the bat from the cat's mouth--which incidentally was still alive!

Patches, Mistress of the House

Yup, lots of wildlife.  Never a dull moment on the farm.