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| Pinni thwarted by my awesome pig-proof barrier |
Pinniped is always excited when I clean the cage. She can't wait to get back in and she'll sit right under the cage if she could (Eclair used to do the same thing, and I'd end up tripping over her!). In the new place, Pinni and Cannoli stayed mostly on the hardwood floor, not wandering too far from home-base, which I set up on the far side of the room. However, once Pinni got her bearings, she'd venture into the living room. This was a problem, mainly because she's a very leaky rodent and the living room is carpeted. Besides, I didn't want her underfoot. So I strung out a full barrier of grids between the kitchen and the living room. It did the trick, but it was inconvenient to step over when I moved between the rooms.
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| Mom, are you done yet? |
Then I discovered that I only needed to block her direct route between home-base and the cage. All I required was a section of four grids, not even all stretched out! Pinni gets as close as she can to the cage, but has not yet figured she can go
around the barrier. Yes, this is a pig of very little brain.
Cannoli has not yet developed this overwhelming desire to get back into a clean cage. She also isn't quite as comfortable wandering around the floor as Pinni. I suspect my short barrier won't work with Cannoli once she starts ranging farther from home-base. I guess we'll see if she's as single minded as Pinni!
I'm thinking it is more of a hereditary instinct not to be caught out in the open. Many animals like structure. to be close to something beside them or over their heads. Also your cleaning the cage provides motion or action which makes spotting danger harder. So the instinct would be to get away from that and find somewhere to hide or be close to hiding cover in the event of danger while exploring. My pigs would never just sit out in the open in a large area.
ReplyDeleteI happened to have junk on the grids when I shot the photos, but even if they're just out there, with nothing to hide under, Pinni will still sit in that spot. She and Bertie would sit near the grids in the old house, out in the open, with a hidey-house less than three feet away. (Heh - I really should have cleaned away the junk before taking the shots!)
DeletePinni looks all too funny sitting there staring woefully over at her cage. What a clown.
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