OK..so the title might seem curious, perhaps even melodramatic, but if you had been around our house the last couple of days you might have thought the same thing.
We have had persistent goats and pigs in our yard since we arrived about a year ago. No matter how many times you chase them out, there are always more that come. We have a fence around our yard made of tiny trees that are placed close together to form a hedge. Recently we had the fence rebuilt for the third time in a year due to animals and people coming through the fence when they shouldn't be, and destroying it to the point it is almost nonfunctional. The man who owns most of the animals lives just two houses down from us. He has a herd of goats and many pigs (one who had babies not too long ago, so when there is one, there is 5 or 6 at a time). Chasing the animals and dealing with damage to our fence is annoying, but when they are eating our crops a line must be drawn. John repeatedly has gone to talk to the owner of the animals, at least half a dozen times with other local men to give us some support behind what we are saying. Three days ago several goats were in our yard when and a well respected Babwis was with us, together they went to talk again. While talking, they discover that this man owns all of these animals, doesn't feed any of them, and doesn't have a garden in which they can eat from. Essentially his plan was to let his animals eat from his neighbors...a bit frustrating!
The next day John looks out the window and sees 3 pigs of the same man in our yard. They had dug up two baby orange trees, a huge area in our yard, and some squash we planted. It is late in the evening, but next thing I know, John dressed in no more than his boxers, tears after these pigs with a stick. You have never seen anything like it! I try to find some cord to tie up the pig with as I am thinking to myself, if he catches this thing, what is he going to do about it in his boxers? John has run all the way to the end of our yard one way, then another, and around the house like a warrior, running through the garden to catch the pig. John hits one of them enough to keep him from running and tie him up. Pigs can big viscous so I run out there and have the stick ready to hit the pig if he tries to bite while John puts a rope around his leg and ties it to a tree. The pig is squealing, meaning every neighbor must know what is happening in our yard. I run inside and put a short video on for Bryan so I can stay outside with the pig -afraid someone will come and try to steal their pig back before we can prove the pig was in our yard. John meanwhile runs to get a friend of ours so together they can find the chairmen of the local counsel (kind of like a mayor). The LC1 (chairman) comes to see the pig and they decide to meet the next day at 3pm.
If that isn't enough excitement...
Around 1:00 in the afternoon (two hours before they are suppose to meet), John looks out the window and sees 2 goats eating our corn. Let me just say, you don't touch our corn!! The corn here is like American field corn, and to us leaves something to be desired. This, however, is sweet corn from seeds given to us from the states – a bit of heaven! Yes, you guessed it, John goes after the goats again in the same warrior fashion. I run for the stick and rope! I see him dash 5 steps left, 5 steps right, casaba has been pushed aside and there are paths you can track where he has been with the goat. He yells, just stay where you are! The goat runs anyway. John leaps, shoulder first, over the fence to catch the goat who just went over before him. He misses and now is running through the neighbors yard to catch this animal. I go back inside, convened he didn't catch the goat, but low and behold, he walks back with the goat minutes later. We tie him up to a post, now having both a goat and a pig of this man's tied up in our yard.
It is now 3:00 and none of the counsel members come. At 3:45 Our friend Biiwha and John go to track down the counsel men. Biiwha said it is common for them not to show, in hopes that we wouldn't pursue things further (less work) and the man who owns the goats happens to sit on the counsel, so not much hope for good results. Around 5:00 Biiwha and John return this time with 7 men. They assess the damage in the garden and then discuss the results till 7:30. Fortunately the man admitted all of his fault and agreed to compensate. We did not want any payment, only that he would keep his animals off our land, so he agreed, and it was signed legally... Drum roll Please...
that from now on any animal of this man's that comes onto our property or any property of the mission will become our possession. At the rate they have been coming, we should have a pig pickin' tomorrow...or at least this week! He he! It isn't that we want to punish this man, but if there is no consequence for his action, than he won't do anything to prevent it in the future. We are shocked with the results and hopeful that perhaps we will have no more animals eating our garden!
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