Crying For the Hogs

Mann has almost always been an "only dog". We fostered a Maltese for a short time way back when he was a small pup and my children acquired a toy fox terrier a few months before the move. Between those times, we occasionally took in a lost or homeless pup. Mann LOVES other animals. He even loves the old cat who hates him with a passion. When we would get a temporary boarder, Mann's eyes would glaze, drool would run uncontrollably through his lips and he would moan with joy. I've seen him get so excited he would shiver hard enough that he would have to lie down. You have to know this about Mann to understand his reaction to the hogs.

The hogs. Well, you take two escaped pigs, give 'em a few years and you wind up with feral hogs running the woods, rooting up everything, and chasing people. They can be very dangerous when threatened. I don't worry about them on the 4-wheeler. I've never seen them when riding it, so I assume they run for cover. I DO worry about walking up on them. When cornered, they can get vicious. And a mama sow is second in protection only to the bear. A sow will kill you to protect her babes.

These woods are full of feral hogs. They're actually getting to the point of being a plague. Everyone is talking about them and no one is doing anything. It's pretty much up to the landowners to do whatever they can to get rid of them. Our way is to trap them in a live trap - much like the ones they use for small animals. We scatter corn around it and in it. When the hogs go into the trap, they spring it. The door closes behind them and they can't get out. Then we have pork chops.

The first week we were here, we caught 7 hogs. A sow and 5 of her most recent pigs, and an adolescent male - probably from a previous litter. The trap and the hog pen came with the property. It has gotten to be a way of life here. So now we had 7 feral hogs. It took us three nights to get them. First night was 4 little piggies. Second night the male. Third night, mama and another baby.

After getting them settled and making sure they couldn't get out, we decided to introduce Mann to them. He walked up to the chain link fence and sniffed. His ears went up and forward. His legs began to shake. Drool poured from his mouth. His eyes glazed. Mama noticed him and BLAM! she hit the fence right in front of Mann. He fell in love! The moaning started. The male noticed him. BLAM! he hit the fence. Mann couldn't bear it. So many people to play with! He was ecstatic! He romped and frolicked like the puppy of years past. All to no avail. If Mama could have gotten through the fence, she would have had him for dinner. Our poor citified pup had no idea that this could be his worst nightmare.

My sole purpose of showing them to Mann was to scare him. I thought if they scared him, he would run from them should he stumble across pigs in the woods. Now I think it was a grave mistake. I truly believe he would try to play with any feral hogs he should find.

The next morning I let Mann out to relieve himself. We always go across the fence to the pasture so I don't have to clean the yard. I turned my back for only a moment and when I called him to go back to the house, he was gone. I over reacted, I know, but Mann is the child Jack and I will never have. He is our baby. Even though he is now a middle- aged dog, we insist on treating him like a two year-old human. And like a two year-old, he gets into troubles.

I hurried back to the house to look on the porch. Just as I was ready to call Jack, I heard the moan. The love struck, what-do-I-do-now? moan. I hurried around to the pen, sure I'd find him with his nose ripped off, but the screams never came. I was astonished to find 5 little piggies nose to nose with my peace-loving giant. The sow and the male were having none of it, but they weren't trying to attack. The babies squealed and ran when I approached. I had to force Mann to heel and follow me back to the house.

The pigs are gone now, and I keep Mann away from the pen. If we get more, I'm not going to tell him.