The ODSS pig

One morning as early rising members exited the hut they encountered a large sow.  Whether they encouraged said beast into the building or it entered of its own volition I don’t know – but I may have suspicions.

Past visitors will recall that the bunks were 3 tier so the lowest was very low – about the level of a pig’s snout.  Imagine you were aroused from your slumbers by a pig nuzzling your ear. “Princess” Ann need not call on imagination, I expect the memory is still fresh in her mind – half a century later.  I think I can state, without fear of contradiction, that like Queen Victoria (no relation) she “was not amused”.

The pig, as is their nature, was only interested in one thing, just as a caver will sniff out Beer, so a pig will unerringly locate food. It was not disappointed. Firstly it discovered a string-bag of potatoes. Rather than go to the trouble of removing the potatoes from the bag, it just ate them through the mesh.  A loaf of bread in a plastic wrapper was a different challenge, this time the preferred approach was to eat it whole, bag and all.  That caused the trainee pig-wranglers some concern.  Might a plastic bag be injurious to the welfare of a pig? Might an angry farmer seek recompense? Not to worry, the empty bag was vomited up, cleansed even of its printing. 

Those whose food supply was fast disappearing put their own nutritional requirements above those of the pig and it was shooed out of the building before any further damage could be inflicted.  The pig was distinctly unimpressed and was heard to comment on the disgusting state of our accommodation, she’d never seen such a human-sty, had we no pride?