Copperopolis, CA…Shortly, my wife and I are to receive a $1,400 free hand out from the government. This reminds me of a story about wild hogs. Over a century ago, in the hills of Appalachia, there existed a large drove of wild hogs that the locals could not catch. These hogs ran wild and free eating acorns and roots. They avoided human beings for hundreds of years.

Then, one day, a tall stranger with a beard and wide brim hat, rode into town on a buckboard with some rope and tools. He called for a meeting of the local people and offered to sell them all the wild hogs in three weeks. The people had a hard time believing him but agreed.

Three weeks later, he returned and told the people he had all the hogs in a pen outside of town and he wanted payment. The people rushed to see and sure enough there were hundreds of hogs in a pen. They paid him as agreed, and as he was leaving town a small boy ran after the buckboard, shouting mister! mister! How did you catch those wild hogs?

The stranger said:

“The first day, I put out some corn and continued each day for a week. At first the hogs wouldn’t touch it. Then some of the younger ones did. They figured, if they didn’t eat the corn, some others would. The second week, I started building a pen around the corn. Now the older ones were eating the corn. They figured that if they didn’t, the young ones would. Soon all the hogs were eating the corn.

At the end of the third week, I closed the gate. They raised quite a fuss, but it was too late. Son, I can catch any animal on the face of this earth, if I can first get them to take a free hand out,”

Albert J. Segalla,
Copperopolis