The Whistle Pig and A Party...

Whistle Pig is a nickname for a woodchuck, also known as a ground hog. I was driving to my Mum and stepdad's house for a surprise party for my sister. As I came to the bottom of the hill, leading down into Fond du Lac, I saw something inside the line of the shoulder on the highway. It was a little ground hog. It was too frightened to move, but I didn't think it had been hit. By now, you know me. I had to stop to rescue it.

I pulled off to the side of the road, grabbed one of my recyclable grocery bags, and ran against traffic back to it. I can't believe I had to signal for some vehicles to push away from the shoulder. After all, it is a two-lane highway in each direction now, and the inner lane was clear. People are in such a dang hurry and really don't care for wildlife, I guess.

Anyway, as I got to the little critter, another car pulled in behind me, and a nice gentleman in a suit named Teo got out to help. He was more concerned that I might get hit, but also had seen the reason I was running on the side of the road and came to offer assistance.

I easily got the little one into my bag and after discussion about where he or I could take it, I decided to take it with me to the party, and place it in the dog crate at Mum's in a quiet room to cool it down. The best thing was that there were lots of kids at Nana's house for the party, and Aunt Donna got to teach all of them about the "whistle pig", and they all got to pet it.

When I turned it over, we knew it was a young female, and she was stressed and hot. The first thing was to cool her down. She didn't make noise when I lifted her up, so I knew she hadn't been hit. I think she just froze in traffic and the pavement was so hot she overheated.

My niece grabbed some of Nana's washcloths, got them wet with very cold water, and I placed the little girl on the washcloths on a rolled up towel Teo gave me, to let her cool down. We repeated this multiple time while we were there. She finally started to stretch out and then curled up and went to sleep.

These photos were taken before we left, after a surprise Birthday party for my sister, Lyn. I think I've told you before I'm the eldest of the "kids" in our family, and Lyn is next in line. She's been very ill, and we wanted to cheer her up with her first ever surprise party. More on that shortly...

I had planned to take the woodchuck back to the area where I'd picked her up, but when I went to that area, I realized the the highway fence meant to keep wildlife away from the highway would also keep her from leaving the highway area. So, I drove to the other side of the highway and spoke with residents to find out that they hadn't seen a "hog" for months, and they thought the feral cats were killing them. I decided not to leave her there at all.

When asked if I'd named her, I said "no", but my husband had when I called him. He named her, "Don't bring her home". 'Nuff said. I knew I couldn't bring her back to the farm, and I worried that Claudette and Crystal might be a problem anyway. What to do?

I decided to bring her "mostly home", choosing a sheltered spot under lush cedar pines surrounded by thick tall grass. Bee hives nearby would protect her from coyotes, who I don't think hang around where they know there are active bees. She'd be able to move about without bothering the bees, or alerting other larger animals. I left her there, tucked in her towel and said I'd be back in the morning.

When I went back with a bona fide shelter for her, along with food and water, I found her tidy, little bed vacated. No sign of fowl play or predation. I'm sure she felt better surrounded by nature all night, and was able to unwind and explore. She's not all that far from Hickory Hill Farm now, so perhaps some time soon she'll make her way down to the woodshed where she could live out the rest of her days. If the time comes that I see her again, I'll welcome her with open arms. I wonder if she'll remember me?

The big event for the day was actually the surprise Birthday party for my next-younger sister. (As I said, they're all younger.) Lyn is the center of this picture of The Four Sisters, and she's the Birthday Girl. Her big day is actually next week, but our Mum and stepdad hosted the party and wisely chose a weekend night for the celebration so all could attend. There were at least forty people there...mostly family.

Lyn has been seriously ill for a few years, suffering with COPD, and she needs to be on a lung transplant list but has been too weak and frail for surgery even if she were and one became available. People she hadn't seen in a while attended and everyone got a good chance to visit with her. We know it was difficult for her, and she was exhausted by the time they left. Even so, we had cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to our girl, and got this great photo of the four of us to remember her celebration. It was a good day for a good day, and I'm not ashamed to say that when I finally got back home, I realized my dear sister wasn't the only one who'd had an exhausting day. 

It's already nearly two o'clock in the afternoon and I need to get dressed and on my way. I have plans with my aunt and uncle. Prayers for Lyn are always appreciated. God is Good.