10-07-2018, 12:18 PM
Hey, they're pigs! Food is very high on their list.
Before humans came along, their lives depended on eating like a pig and larding up. At least northern hemisphere pigs.
Pigs in nature eat stuff they root out of the ground. That's why they are made the way they are (short legs, no neck, that weird nose). When the ground freezes they are SOL. (which seldom happens in Africa). They could expand their potential range far northward by putting away enough lard before winter to last through the frozen weather. They just stack themselves together like cordwood to conserve energy and wait it out.
So their basic instinct is to eat even well in excess of their nutritional needs. It makes them very happy. Actually humans need to regulate their food intake for them, for them to stay healthy. Feed them according to their body condition, not free choice. Pigs can get a diabetes-like condition, resulting in organ failure, and cardiac issues are not uncommon. Slaughter pigs are seldom more than months old, their long-term health is not an issue. But they can live 30 years if they stay healthy.
