Encourage one another and build one another up. Pray without ceasing. Test everything. Keep what is good. Avoid all evil. -1 Thess 5:11,17,21,22
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Herding Hogs
Kubota and I helped the Captain load up some hogs to take to the butcher. I was one of the "gate" men. Kubota helped wrestle the critters into the trailer. There are some advantages to having seniority.
A soupy mess
Sunday morning is when the Captain could get the help, so Sunday is when they got loaded. The guy dragging the hog out of the pen is not the largest man in the world, but his hands are as hard as rocks.
This is a very short video clip I was able to take. Hogs are vocal and this one was expressing his displeasure at being pulled away from the feed trough. The video quality is poor because my main job was to keep the rest of the hogs in the pen as they snaked the "chosen ones" out one at a time.
For those who live in the city, a pig becomes a hog when it passes the 180 pound (80kg) mark.
They refined their method as we loaded more hogs. A bucket over their head calmed them down. They skidded more easily when both rear legs were noosed.
I did not get a picture of Kubota dragging any of the hogs, but the crew was mighty glad to have him.
A factor that may have come into play is that I grew out a beard (first time in my life) for deer hunting season. It came in very light "gray".
They may have looked me over and thought, "Dang, he is OLD. We better give him an easy job or we will be dragging his carcass out of here, too."
I got to thinking, this is almost the same as the Columbus Drill. It would go a bunch easier if they had a 4' Tee handle and instead of one rope they had two straps from the center of the Tee handle and the straps had carabiners or clips on the ends.
It's a truly dirty job... Thanks to both of you for stepping up and helping!
ReplyDeleteThe Captain is a mighty fine neighbor.
DeleteA factor that may have come into play is that I grew out a beard (first time in my life) for deer hunting season. It came in very light "gray".
They may have looked me over and thought, "Dang, he is OLD. We better give him an easy job or we will be dragging his carcass out of here, too."
I got to thinking, this is almost the same as the Columbus Drill. It would go a bunch easier if they had a 4' Tee handle and instead of one rope they had two straps from the center of the Tee handle and the straps had carabiners or clips on the ends.
The curse of being an engineer.