10 Little Piggies

Warning: this post is a bit more graphic than most of what I usually share. Please skip it if you have a tender heart. 

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So we've had the hog trap set for almost a week now. Ever since it was put up, it's been baited but not set, so the feral hogs that have been tearing up our place would grow comfortable with the trap and the bigger, wiser ones would venture in.

Although the big ones never made an appearance on the trail cams, the numbers of pigs having a nightly feast of sour corn grew, and our friendly trapper, Chris, agreed that it was probably time to see what we could get. So on Monday he came out and set the trap.

And nothing happened.

And nothing happened.

And nothing happened.

He told us when the pigs were finally caught, they'd make such a ruckus freaking out that they would probably wake us up (the trap is in the woods right off our bedroom). So all week we've been sleeping lightly- tensely- waking at every bump and unusual sound.

Then, last night, we fell asleep with our bathroom window open... and of course, that's when they decided to show.

 Strangely enough, they didn't really make much noise when they tripped the trap door; what woke me up was the sound of the fencing of the pen rattling against the wooden guillotine-style door. We jumped out of bed and spent about twenty minutes staring through the bathroom window at the pig pen, trying to figure out what happened. We could clearly see the door was closed, but we couldn't see any pigs (it was so dark). We thought a raccoon had triggered the door, and the fence sound I heard was the sound of it climbing out of the trap.

We finally grabbed a flashlight strong enough to shine all the way to the trap, and we saw 'em- at least a couple pigs had been trapped! I texted Chris right then (I hope he didn't mind...!), and then we went back to bed (it was only midnight).

By the time the kids were up and the morning routine was in full swing, Chris was already halfway to our place, and he was backing his trailer-turned-mobile-pen up to the trap before 8am. In full daylight we could see them all- ten little piggies. And by little, I mean almost all under 80 pounds.

 Chris made quick work of getting them rounded up and into the mobile pen, and then we picked out the runt of the group, herded him back down the ramp and into the trap, and Chris handed me his rifle.

I have always struggled with the dichotomy of eating meat but not being willing to take an animal's life. I've culled chickens in the past, but it was to end suffering due to injury or illness. We've never eaten our own animals. I do try to buy local, humanely- and pasture-raised meat when we do have steak or chicken on the menu, but I've never been the one to do the processing.

Until today.

I wasn't sure if I could, but I did... I shot our pig in the head.

 Then I learned how to hang him up, skin him, clean him, and ultimately fit him in the freezer... all while wearing a trash bag over my clothes and kitchen gloves.

I feel powerful and sad. Grateful and humbled. Excited and a little bummed. I'm glad I found out today that I have it in me to go to this length to feed my family. I'm relieved that we've reduced the population of these destructive, invasive pests. But I'm at odds with my instinct to comfort and care for living things.

I'm exhausted. But I'm also planning to make him in to something nourishing and delicious, without wasting any part, so this little guy can be honored in the way that he deserves. That is the only way I'll be at peace with taking his life.

Planting!

I'm out in the garden again! It's so unreal... it's been so long! I've planted greens, parsley, carrots, radishes, borage and marigolds so far! Oh, and little onions too, of course! Giddy doesn't even begin to describe me. Although I've already gotten in trouble for planting so much without the kids helping... so I guess the next time I reach for those seeds it better be an evening or weekend... but oh the therapy, the sanctuary of digging in the dirt, gloves off, alone!

It is so good!

Bonfire

This weekend we decided that we were going to have a little fun at the end of our working-our-tails-off marathon. We'd been cleaning up the yard while simultaneously digging trenches and managing a burnoff bonfire, and we thought well gosh, what if we had some friends over and threw some potatoes in those ashes?

And so we did, and we had a few beers, and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and got to hear the birds find their roosts for the night and the frogs come out to sing, all underneath a few early stars. Who cares if we were sunburned (some of us) or filthy (all of us)? It was just what we needed.

Monsters on the Trail Cam

We haven't had a decent feral hog sighting in quite a few days... we've been hearing regular rifle shots from the north of us (where we think the pigs are coming from) and are left wondering if they've been scared away for the time being. Our hog-trapper doesn't seem concerned, reassuring us that it's typical for a group this size to have a very, very large territory and for them to appear to come and go. It seems like he's ready set the trap to catch whatever comes back whenever we start seeing them again, though, so I keep baiting the trap with "fresh" sour corn and checking the trail cams.

When the pigs skip a visit, we end up having photos of squirrels, big fat raccoons, and my cat (jerk) instead... and recently something even stranger made an appearance...

 ...which was very startling at first glance! We're going to need a different kind of trap...

 ...I don't think we're equipped to handle monsters of this caliber.

Another Group Project, Done

 It never ceases to amaze me how much willing help we can find with a few phone calls... this past weekend was no exception. Not only were our hard-working usuals here (father- and mother-in-law), but an entire family of friends showed up ready to pitch in, too... and the result? Two rows of fence up, complete with posts set in concrete! One for the garden space, the other to protect our lateral lines and bee yard. And they look gooooooooooooood.

I'm especially relieved about the fence now guarding the lateral lines and bees.

Oh, and now I've got something to nail a bee yard sign to... so I guess I'd better make a bee yard sign!

It's aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall comin' together!

Heart-Day

Classroom parties, secret Valentines, and our must-have heart-shaped pancakes to kick it all off... my kiddos love a chance to celebrate, no matter the actual reason. I even got a surprise valentine from Sister, complete with a joke she made up herself: "What do you call a really messy room? A pig stie!" (Original spelling preserved.)

I'm not sure why I inspired that joke, but it was super sweet nonetheless. What a goofball.

This will be Henry's first Valentine's Day party, and yesterday he told me excitedly that he already had cards and things in his box. I can't wait to hear all about their days. Love it.

See our long-ago nods to V-Day here: 2012, 2013.

Weekending :: Dance!

We kicked off our weekend with what was formerly thought to be a daddy-daughter dance, now understood to be a family dance, put on by the city. We all got spiffied up and danced the night away...

...and though we stayed out waaaaaay past bedtime, it was totally worth it. Hoping everyone got the chance to put a little boogie in their weekend!

Happy weekending!