The Exodus of the Pigs

The pigs have moved . . . out of Mila's bedroom into the garage. While one pig was not too smelly or messy, three pigs were a different matter altogether. They spend much of their day outside anyway, in one of those wire dog kennels that we turn upside-down so the mesh isn't too big for them to tunnel under. I'm not sure if pigs DO tunnel, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Yesterday Devan moved the piggery down into the bay of the garage where he keeps his tools, and Beanie takes them out every morning when the grass is dry and we move them back in at night. Now and then we move their kennel around on the lawn, because they nibble the grass down so we have rectangular areas of very short grass; but they also fertilize the lawn, so in a day or two we have rectangular areas of very lush grass. They are quite sensitive to heat, so we have to keep them in the shade . . . otherwise we'd move them every hour and by the end of summer they would have mowed the entire lawn.

I enjoy taking them out little scraps--carrot tops, a slice of orange, salad too small to put back in the fridge--but my favorite is to watch them eat dandylions, which are their most-loved food. The other day one got hold of one end and another started at the other end and they met in the middle, just like on Lady and the Tramp.