Mail Call: July/August 2012

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Daisy is a wild pig from Florida. Nancy Wall

I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know how much I enjoy eNews (GRIT’s electronic newsletter). There are so many links (and links within links) that it’s hard not to miss something of interest.

We have wild pigs here in east-central Florida. Some of these are hairy razorbacks with tusks, and some are domesticated runaways that have joined and bred with wayward groups. My family lives in a rustic, rural, somewhat wild area near the St. Johns River, west of Cocoa. Some suburban communities get entire yards “tilled” (similar to Texas ranch problems). Our situation, here in the woods, is not as problematic. Occasionally a small group will pass through, rooting up fairly small areas as they go (and maybe rototilling someone’s garden plot). Having lived here since 1997, it’s only been within the past several months that we’ve had what some folks might say is a problem.

A hefty, hairy black female showed up and started hanging around, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. I did not have a hand in naming her (big mistake unless it’s a moniker like Bacon, Pork Chop or Hambone). Before long, Petunia was waltzing through the 4-foot chain-link fence like it wasn’t even there, and leaving little evidence of her passing. She had her own water bowl and enjoyed corn snacks.

This went on for a while, and then she went missing. A few weeks went by, and then she was back — with a younger female in tow. This one is hairy, reddish in color with a few small black spots. The previous routine returned, with them keeping company with our chickens and two goats, showing up mostly at feeding time. Then, poof, they were gone. Well, a few days later, Bacon (that’s what the younger one had been named) returned, a little wilder and quite agitated. Petunia never returned, and — you guessed it — Bacon got renamed Daisy! She calmed down and now spends some nights (as well as many hours during the heat of the day) under the porch, coming out to dog our heels while looking for a snack. She likes bananas (but not the peels), apple slices and granola bars. If she doesn’t get her treat, she pitches a hissy fit. She’ll also nip at body parts to get your attention ... becoming a bit of a pest. Today, my wife said, “If she’s not careful, her name is going back to being Bacon.” 

Jerry Wall
Cocoa, Florida

Soon as she nips a little too hard, Jerry, that's breakfast! Heck, dinner, too! All jokes aside, thanks for sharing a story that brightened our day, and thanks for being so engaged with GRIT eNews. — Editors