Template Taste Testing

Anyone who has guinea pigs knows that floor time can end with mischief if the area is not properly pig-proofed.  I recently made a little paper template to punch holes in my recipe book bindings.  I had left the template and the punch on the hearth, which is raised several inches off of the floor.  Neither pig has shown any interest in the hearth nor have they checked out anything placed on it.  Well, until now.

I had been busy cleaning the cage, so it took several seconds of listening to the distinct sound of paper chewing before I recalled that I had not given them any toilet paper tubes stuffed with hay.  I ran over to find Pinniped working diligently on my spine template.  She had managed to avoid the holes and hadn't quite made it across the width of the spine.  Not that it mattered too much - I had finished the recipe books earlier that week.  But what a fresh little pig!  She went straight for the one thing I had left out.  How do they know?