Random guinea-pig thought for the day...(Super Furry Animals bit)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I went down to the Pighouse to get the guinea-pigs scissors to cut some grass for breakfast.
They heard me open the door so we wheeking like mad. I could picture GP1 flapping his little ears with disgust that he was having to wait for his breakfast.

I was thinking (as I scouted round for naice grass) - for such vunerable animals; can't kick out, can't climb much, can't burrow, can't scratch,can't really turn quickly enough to bite or lunge; surely it's NOT an advantage to be so noisy?

The squeaking, wheeking, rumbling, purring. All noises that would attract the attention of the hunter.

Or have they evolved these noises to make themselves attractive to soppy owners.
Bit like Tribbles (Star Trek: Trouble With Tribbles)
Mr Spock deduced that they made noises to endear themselves to humans. (But then the buggers ate all the pies grain)

In the wild are they mute? Apart from the
"What's your problem"?
"Your FACE"
type arguments that boars indulge in.

70 - I think they are completely mute in the wild. My theory is that the domestic GP developed these noises as a training tool to encourage their normally sane human pets to open fridge doors as required, or get down on their hands and knees at ungodly hours to cut fresh grass for them

Yes, they have us trained well!

hmmm, ours have us very well trained.
The shopping just arrived, so the weeeking began, and DP dropped everything to bring the spoilt beggars a carrot

Although when HePig starts rumbling round the loung ddog runs and hide

It's not just the pigs, Current Bun has just been nudging my legs and tugging on my jeans to remind me I forgot to give him his biscuit this morning.

See if CurrentBun could wheek there's no way you could forget his biscuits.

Have you ever forgotten to feed the guineas?
No.
They don't let you.And they tell you.

Superior Race.

70 Current Bun is appealing your verdict. He would like to point out that he has never yet seen a pig manage to open or close a sliding door, however, he manages to do this most evenings (think he has OCD as unless the door is opened a certain amount he adjusts it). He would also like to point out that pigs are easily tricked - all he has to do is thump and they run for cover. Also, they aren't observant - if there is a cat in the garden and he's not around to thump, they don't notice, even if said cat is sitting right next to their run staring at them.

Clearly Current Bun belongs to the superior race.

Case closed.

Guineas don't have to open doors because they have owners and (in your pigs' case) Current Buns to do the work for them

They run because it's "every pig for themselves" (Self Preservation). They don't want to wait to know what the Thump is.

The pigs are clever enough to know that the run is there to protect them while they get on with the important issues like eating grass.
My little boy (the black Abby) sleeps on the grass while his brother stands guard. That's a guinea who has it sussed.

Case thrown out of court Current Bun. The Guinea-Lawyers will send their invoice.

I don't think there are any guinea pigs in the wild. They are bred for food aren't they?
Mine is an indoor pig and knows the noise of the fridge opening meens food!
Bloody noisy bastard!

They must've started out wild (many years ago) but they would have been rangey and scrawney, smooth coated and brown.

DD watches those videos of farmed GPs in South America. Huge indoor pens (bit like barn chickens) where someone comes in and pours grain into their troughs. They all surge forward and ...well survival of the fittest

They've been bred into all these different fancy colours and coats, the original guinea has been lost.
Which explains why they are so fragile now in the damp UK weather and people say "Oh isn't it -20C in Peru"?

Maybe but it's dry cold. And those guineas aren't domesticated guinea-pigs.

70 - Current Bun will pay the invoice in his special bunny raisins

I have some late evidence here to be considered:

Pigs out in their run.They have a hay tunnel, a long plastic tunnel , a new cardboard box to hide in.
I put a fleece over some random buttercups (though I'm sure they won't bother with them)

The guineas are under the fleece.
Wrapped up in the fleece.
Two little grinny pigs looking up at me (once I got over the "OMG where are they? How could they escape from that run?")

I'm starting to think maybe rabbits are a bit less dense cleverer

Hold that thought - yesterday Current Bun went out on his lead in the garden. He had a nice long stretch of grass to run/binkie on and could go as fast as he likes. What does he do? He sits down and cleans his ear, over and over until it's time to go in. Only then does he decide to have a hop and he hopped in and out of the legs of the garden furniture so his lead was tangled and he had to be untied

Meanwhile his piggie brothers have spent the afternoon in their run sensibly mowing the lawn. Scruffypig did end up nose to nose with a cat (through the bars of his run) and was completely oblivious to the hungry look on the cat's face and the raised paw about to try and swipe him.

If I wanted an intelligent pet, I should have got a chimp!

Maybe rats would have been the furry of choice when we're looking for clever pets

I put my FurBabies out today.
In their run they had:
a wicker hedgehog house
a large shallow box open at both ends
a plastic tunnwl
3 hay tunnels
a narrow cardboard tunnel
a fleece draped and pegged over the top for shade.

So lots to entertain and give them shade.
GP2 is black and small.
So a high surface area to body mass ratio.
And fur.

Does he shade himself? No he doesn't. He sits in full sun , taunting the magpies.

Now he's tucked into my neck, farting

Previous Bun would lie on top of the heating vent in our old house and almost cook herself. What is it with them and heat? They aren't supposed to like it.

Are you sure GP2 was taunting the magpies? It could have been the other way around.

I thought it was the chrome bars they were attracted to but obviously it's the glossy black fur and the little fatty eye that attracts him.