Sadie

Daddy tried his hand at fur trapping back in the day.  He had a trap line that encompassed the back part of the ranch.  Since I was (and still am) an early bird, Daddy would take me with him to check his traps.  My job was to shine the flashlight on the trap to see if anything was caught in it.  Details are neither here nor there but he did make a little money selling the furs to a fur buyer in town.

It was on a trip that I didn't get to go with Daddy that he brought home Sadie.  Sadie was a javelina pig.  It appeared wild hogs had killed her mother.  Most ranchers would have dispatched the little pig but Daddy felt compelled to bring her to the house.  Marshall and I were a little leery about our new pet.  We never heard anything positive about pigs.  Sadie was just as scared of us as we were of her. 

Sadie took a liking to our dog, Sleepy.  Sadie ate dog food and slept in the dog house.  Sleepy was protective of her and the two of them had a solid relationship.  Sadie loved to interact with us while we played outside.  We attempted to teach her to catch a Frisbee or fetch a ball.  She ate the Frisbee. 

As most non-domestic animals will do, Sadie disappeared for a while.  One day she showed up outside the fence.  We were elated to see her but she didn't come up to us like we expected her to.  Lo and behold, she had two little ones of her own!  I would like to believe she was showing off her babies before saying good bye to us.  Marshall and I sat on the fence and watched her for as long as it took for her to eat some dog food and drink from the ditch.  She rounded up her little ones and took off up the hill.   We never saw Sadie again.

I think about Sadie from time to time.  I remember when she would stand at the back door and grunt for attention.  It was her way of saying, "Come out and play with me!" And did we ever play!  Thank you for the memories, Sadie.