Wild pigs, dead roosters

Yesterday was a big day for the country girl. I took my kids to the city park in town (Jerseyville, population 4,000 or so) and while we were there a huge, 350-pound hog got loose from a passing trailer. It took 11 high school kids over an hour to corral the beast back into its trailer. When we got home, my rooster, Ruben, was having trouble breathing. Thinking there might be something caught in his throat, I caught him, held him firmly between my knees, stretched out his neck, pried open his beak and looked down his throat. Nothing. He seemed a little better after that. Sadly, I found him dead under the big spruce tree a few hours later, the victim of a mite contagion in his throat, which I couldn't see. This morning, my husband finally caught the skunk that has been debasing our household with his odor. Dave dispatched the creature with a blast of his shotgun. I went out to feed the cats and found one of my hens already helping herself to their bowl of Meow Mix. Never did this in D.C. Just another day in the country here in Dow...