California Gardening: Roll Call, 1 by SingingWolf

SingingWolf wrote:
Hi Everyone!
Okay, we are back home from the beach. Busy with the harvest season. We were out getting the Pumpkin Patch set up when guess who showed up and walked right into the petting zoo enclosure? Mama pig and her 3 piglets. See picture below.
I finally got the story on them. It seems that someone abandoned the Mama pig, she gave birth to 6 piglets in my across the road neighbors oleander hedge. His renter felt sorry for them, she fed them dog food. I remember seeing Animal Control out there one day this summer trying to catch them. Evidently they ran for shelter on our farm. Animal Control couldn't chase them onto our property without permission, so they left. When the renter left, the neighbor thought that Animal Control had taken them.
I guess they never went back to his place and foraged for food here. EB#1 saw them walk inside the petting zoo enclosure, and got the gate closed on them before they could bolt. I'd make a happy face if I could. My pig is to fat, lonely and cranky to walk that far. We won't allow people to go inside, and after we close the PP, we can bring them up here to keep Charlotte(my potbelly pig) company until we can adopt them out. Since one is a male, we will have to separate him from the girls. We can put him in the small pen next to the girls until we get them adopted or get him neutered. I hope we just stopped a feral pig outbreak.
We've had people abandon cats and dogs out here many times in the past. (Idiots think that they can survive in the wild, when they just get eaten by coyotes or worse coydogs!). I have to respect Mama pig. She has 3 babies still, one died shortly after birth, one disappeared (coyote snack, yummy), and the third was adopted while young, and is a pet now. These can be tamed, with patience, kindness and food. They are skinny, especially the two shyer piglets. DH said he'd get them some proper pig feed tomorrow. Shouldn't be seeing their ribs. Yes, I'm a softy. Wild should be left wild, and domestic shouldn't be forced into environment they aren't equipped to survive.
Well, now these little piggies are feasting on pumpkins. LOL.
ENJOY!
WIB!
SingingWolf