Whatcha Doin'?

The gated free range I set up late last fall for the guinea pigs has continued to work well.  I let Cannoli and Boadicea loose most days of the week.  Depending on what toys (food) I've set up on the floor, Boadicea will dart through the gate before it's fully open and will make it into the kitchen before I can.

It's odd - Boadicea had no fear of walking on the wood floor when she first arrived.  Now both pigs rarely let their feet touch the hard wood floor.  I got lazy setting up the grids to block off the living room.  Except for one little spot where the ramp touches the rug, the pigs have to cross a bit of hard wood floor to get to the living room.  It made floor setup even quicker, and I didn't have to worry about tripping over the grids heading in and out of the kitchen.

Cannoli has discovered that power cords have nice texture

That worked well for weeks... until I heard the sound of cardboard chewing from under the cage.  As I walked over to investigate, Boadicea bolted from under the skirt.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Noli was making her way from under the ironing board.  I herded them back into the kitchen and I thought no more of it... until I heard the distinct sound of furniture taste-testing.  This time I found both pigs squished between the love seat and the end table.  I suspect Cannoli was "inspecting" the end table legs.

I don't mind the girls taking tours of the living room.  In fact, I would love to have one of them come up and say "hi" when I'm working at my desk, like Eclair used to.  But the destruction of furniture or, worse yet, electrical cords (eek!) is not cool.

Looks like I need to grid off the kitchen - at least while I'm focused on work.  Normally I know exactly where Noli is while she's on the move because she burbles as she wanders.  But lately she's been sneaky!  I turn around to find her in the middle of the floor and never heard her approach.  Can you bell a guinea pig?