The Great Pig Rescue! Wait. What??

Alright, alright. We've got a different sort of rescue to talk about today. And let me tell you, it's not anything like we usually deal with around here...   First things first. Wild At Heart is a bird rescue. Got it? Bird. Rescue. We have small birds and large birds and all sizes in between. But we do birds.   Until now.   Mr. Bob (giant human in charge #1) was away the other day. He'd been sent on an errand. The facility was in need of more supplies so the boss man went out to pick them all up. Everything was well and good here, so no one thought anything of it. It's not like it was the first time he'd been away, so who would have thought it would be an issue? No one. Not me. And especially not Sam (giant human in charge #2).   While Bob is away, though, (an hour and a half away, I might add!) Sam gets an unusual call. For some reason no one else would answer the phones when they were called except Wild At Heart. Go Sam!   Anyways. Sam got a call from a frantic human. There was a pot-bellied pig. On the side of a very busy road. Near a community center. In an area where the coyotes live. Oh boy. What do we do?   Well, being the animal lovers we are around here, of course Sam hopped on the phone and begun hunting down someone to go hunt down the pig. Bob was still far away. Yvette, Wendy and Donny were unavailable. Luckily she was able to get in touch with a couple of awesome volunteers, Rachelle and Ian. They happen to live in the area where the poor pig was last seen and went out in search of it.   Well, they found it. But quickly realized that the small kennel they had brought with them was too small. Who would have thought that it would be too small? Pot-bellied pigs are supposed to be little, right?   They gave Bob a call. He'd made it back into town and immediately set out with his large kennel. Little did they know that his large kennel still wouldn't be large enough for this pig. Again, aren't pot-bellied pigs supposed to be little!?   After a few minutes of scrambling and a desperate call to Sam asking what they should do, they found a solution. What was it? A comforter. And some fruits and vegetables. How did it work? They laid out the comforter, placed the food in the middle of it and when the pig went after the food, they hoisted her up into the backseat of Bob's truck.

Now what? Sam suggested that Bob take the traumatized pig to a friends nearby barn. Once they made it to Tavia's barn, though, the pig wouldn't move. She was comfortable. Her little cave in Mr. Bob's truck was just the spot for her. She was perfectly content to just sit in the backseat of the truck all day long. But that just wouldn't work.

They tried everything they could. They made a sort of ramp out of straw bales for the pig to walk down. They tried coaxing the pig out of the truck with more food. But she just wouldn't budge. That was her spot and she wasn't giving it up. Mr. Bob had had enough at that point and finally goosed the pig! Up and out she went!   A few hours later Sam received a call at Wild At Heart. The caller was the pig's owners and they were anxious to be re-united with their baby. A meeting was arranged at Tavia's barn and Lulu was sent happily on her way with her family. They were so thankful to Wild At Heart for helping even though it was an odd rescue for our people.

Unfortunately for Bob and Sam, the day wasn't over yet. You see, most of the residents at Wild At Heart are owls. Which means we are mostly awake at night. So anything that needs to be done with us usually has to be done after dark. What does that mean? Some really long nights for Sam and Bob. They hardly ever get to bed before 2am, and that night was no different. Except that they got a call at 3:30am for a barn owl that had been hit by a car. Wild At Heart is the only rescue to answer the phone in person at any hour, day or night.   So off Bob went to rescue the poor barn owl. He returned around 7:45 that morning and wrapped the fractured wing.   Most people would have gone straight to bed after that. But not Bob. He and Sam were up and at it for a full day of work!   I just love those giant humans and their dedication to us!