The piglets have been escaping every day.
Welcoming committee
It is not uncommon to pull into the driveway after work only to be greeted by the usual menagerie of chickens, only NOW that coterie is intermingled with the random piglet, or two.
Or eight.
The wire line that we use to keep them in their enclosure is laughably inept when it comes to piglet-containment.
A full grown hog will obey the wire. A full grown hog understands the zappy power it wields and responds with appropriate reverence and caution.
On beyond zebra.
A piglet, however, can be zapped and zapped and zapped and still, the lure of BEYOND THE WIRE is just too strong to ignore.
The laughable, ineffectual wire.
The wire itself is a fickle instrument. It is strung from post to post only inches from the ground where it has the best chance of dissuading potentially wayward piggies.
The flaw in the system is that the wire must remain free of grasses, mud, and other things that will sap its energy.
So, for example, if weeds grow up around the wire, those weeds will draw the energy out and diminish the strength of the zap.
Lots of other things have this same effect and, as a result, maintaining the wire is an ongoing process.
So, when something like a Tornado-Level Storm hammers through the area, taking down tree-sized branches as it goes, our little pig wire really can’t compete.
Tree-sized branch lying ON the pig wire
Which is what happened last week.
The storm came through, complete with marble-sized hail, crazy strong winds, and grey-out condition clouds. And once it passed, all of the piglets had made their Nature-aided getaway.
Those dinky defectors were nowhere to be seen when we grabbed the chainsaw and started breaking down that enormous branch, piece by piece, until the wire could be unearthed.
The stronger pull
And when it was all finally cleared and back up to speed, everyone was magically back home with mom.
Feeding time has that effect.
No matter how the travel bug may bite, the stronger pull is always that of the feed trough.
Sigh.
Our weeds also sap the energy of the wire(s). And, if we don’t pay attention, so goes the battery. We’re trying to keep things out, though, not in. When the battery runs low, the message gets out to the bunny community that it’s feeding time. You are right about the inexorable pull of the feed trough. Hope your errant piggies stay out of trouble.
That first picture is just great. 🙂