Pet Pigs in the Forest
A True Story of Off-grid Life
I’d never seen a pig in my forest until a new neighbor bought the house across the road and befriended piglets from the woods behind his property. Five years of no pigs; only birds, mason wasps and other insects, spiders, geckos, frogs, mice, worms and, occasionally, a possum. And now this.
The neighbor said he couldn’t help it. It was like they had come down from the hill to be with him. He made it sound like he was a reincarnation of Francis of Assisi. He’d named one of them Freedom* and treated her like a pet. Francis* said Freedom had been abandoned by her mother and he was more or less forced to take over the tasks of rearing and nurturing her.
Freedom and Francis adopted each other. Francis petted her and fed her, and Freedom was allowed in his house. Freedom was feral; she would bite your hand or snap at your ankle, but she was still small and adorable.
Then she grew huge and started roaming around.
Initially, I didn’t mind. When I caught a glimpse of her, I saw she was still adorable. But I noticed a lot of new forest growth being uprooted by a curious nose. I wasn’t sure whose nose (I forgot to tell you there are rabbits around as well), but another neighbor insisted it was Freedom. He had seen her eating his freesias. He was annoyed. Very…
