Pig escape Thwarted by Heifer

Well, all my plans for a couple of  hours off, yesterday afternoon, were in vain.  The farmy had other plans. 

Hairy Maclairy decided to stage a break in into the Milking Parlour.  A space he is not allowed to visit.  

The Shush Sisters were re-homed into the pig sty. They literally romped in all the extra space.  Just loving it.  Then I led Bobby and Queenie  into the Dairy Mistress Field and they very obediently tested the new Hot Wire then stayed on their own side munching. 

And Daisy hung out in her own field. She seems well into a quiet waiting cycle. 

So I thought good, you all relax and I will sit down.  I took the card out of the camera, plugged it into the laptop  in my summer study and set it to load. Then went to the kitchen  to make a cup of tea and maybe some breakfast, after all it was 2pm. I looked out the kitchen window and saw Queenie racing up and down the fence line with her nose on the ground. She appeared to be herding something out of sight in the long grass.  OK this was unusual behaviour.

I cannot have been inside more than five minutes and in that time the Shush Sisters had escaped and were trying to run through the field out to the drive and it looked like Queenie was herding them BACK towards the barn. They kept getting away from her, laughing like drains no doubt and she would gallop in front of them and push them back. Apparently I am using the wrong animal as a dog!  Though what she was really doing was trying to get a good sniff and they thought this was a great game.

So I called them. Hoping that they had learnt their call enough to come to me. How many days have we had them?  ShuShush I called. Shushush.

Like tiny pink and red stars they immediately broke with the heifer,  at full gallop they hit the  fence stuffed themselves through, and ran straight out to me. Sheila found my boot, tagged me.. You’re It,  then shot back into the field to tease Queenie some more.  Charlotte in hot pursuit.  I called them again and then ran to open the gate back into their new run, and they ran after me until they found a snow shovel that had water in it, then they had to throw themselves in there for a quick swim.  Then they saw the hose and maybe it needed a nibble, then they saw TonTon who grabbed his frisbee and bolted under the stock trailer, so they did too. Snorting with laughter. I wish you could hear them, they quite literally chuckle and snort and guffaw. How they don’t hyperventilate and just fall over I do not know. After a number of side trips I managed to get them to follow me through their yard, into the barn and back into the inside pig pen.  It was like gathering two tiny hysterical giggling whirlwinds.

So. Phew. Lesson Number One has been achieved. They come when called. Kind of.

So I worked for a while pig proofing the pig sty that had held the Plonkers for weeks without any trouble.  Then it was time to start the afternoon work.  Daisy laid down in the back field and huffed and puffed and moaned and I thought she might go into labour. But once she had my full attention she stood back up and went back to grazing then staring, then chewing.

I never did get my cup of tea!

Good morning.  Time for me to start all over again! So many opportunities to laugh in this life.    And today I will not make the mistake of disabling the camera half way through the day. So you don’t miss out..

Have a lovely day.

celi