It was not too many months ago that we shared our home with no one. Then Christopher wanted a pet, so we bought him a guinea pig. At first Piggy was king of the backyard but he began depositing goodies everywhere, so Piggy went into exile in his new home, a chicken-wire pen at the end of the garden. He lives right next to our big compost bin, but he does not seem to mind.
Before long, our family was joined by Nemo and Damsel. Daddy built them a castle under the sea and the kids helped to decorate it with pretty sea shells and colourful seaweeds that dance gracefully with the water.We are now very happy. We have Piggy in the garden and we have Nemo and Damsel in the house.
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But wait, every other boy in school has a dog! Okay, so we gotta have a dog too, so goes Christopher’s very compelling reasoning. And that was how we adopted Jacks. Christopher says, “No, not Jacks. His name is Jacques!” Jacques, or Jacks or Jags…. duh, I just call him Jack, that will do.
Right. So now we are one complete happy family! Until one day, a black raven decided to invite himself over to the party……..
Now, Piggy has always been too timid to tell Jack to bugger off when Jack jumps into Piggy’s pen and invites himself to Piggy’s food. So we fenced off the top of the pen with some loose wiring, enough to keep greedy Jack out, but wide enough to allow entry to our many feathered friends who come to visit. Grey doves and sparrows make regular visits here. They fly into Piggy’s pen to share his food, then somehow find their way out, always.
2 days ago, a hapless black raven found himself trapped inside Piggy’s pen. Piggy did not care two hoots, but Jack went berserk, barking madly, dashing round and round chasing the wildly flapping bird, scaring the life out of the poor thing.
Two days later, the black raven is still in there. Hang in there, mate, rescue is on the way.
Update 24-Nov-2005 9:19 PM
Now, we have not one but TWO blackbirds in Piggy’s pen! One “little white, yellow and black bird” kept them company for a while and then found its way out.
