Bobby and Betsy always used to share a trough quite happily. Hughie came along Ormsaigbeg each morning to feed them - and quite a feast it is - and the two pigs would spend the next half-hour or so munching away contentedly together. Then something happened....
....which cause Bobby to turn quite nasty at mealtimes. For the last week or so, every time Betsy has come along to share the trough, he snorts at her and pushes her away, very unpleasantly.
Poor Betsy hangs around disconsolately, watching as Bobby eats all the best parts of the menu. He does let her in for a minute or two when he's finished, but then he comes back, chases her away and, although he's obviously bursting at the seams, tries to eat what's left.
What must be so horrible for Betsy is that Bobby is quite happy to share his meal with a wagtail (arrowed), which comes along each morning and sits on the edge of the trough, jumping in to pick the choicest morsels.
The only possible explanation for this uncouth behaviour is that Bobby is getting far too fat and, the fatter he gets, the hungrier he gets. Yet Betsy's the one that needs the nourishment - she's eating for twelve or more.
When this piggish behaviour was pointed out to pig breeder Hughie MacLachlan, he was genuinely shocked. Because, you see, Bobby really was quite clever: he never chased Betsy away until after Hughie had left.
So Hughie stayed on for a few minutes and Bobby, unable to control his base instincts, chased Betsy away. Now Betsy gets her meal separately, but Bobby pushes her off whichever meal is the better.
They really ought to be separated, but pigs pine if they're lonely, so Betsy, like so many wives, puts up with her husband's churlishness.
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