Natural drive

Right my dear -- I think over here will do...

Running a pork provisioning business is a complex challenge. There's a lot of planning involved, a great deal of discussion - about the animals themselves, the markets, the range of products, combining tradition with innovation, keeping the mind on future strategy without taking the eye off present facts etc etc etc ....... we spend hours talking about it.... every aspect almost ad nauseum it sometimes seems.  One of our most recent topics of concern has been Ginger and Mangal. More specifically, how  long we should continue to breed them. They are our Founders so that makes them very senior..... Should we let Ginger have another litter? Is she capable? Is Mangal still fertile?  Do they even want to get back together? Should we just retire them gracefully?

How about a spot of tea now dear?

Well, it doesn't really matter how long we debated and how often we threw the questions back and forth. Yesterday afternoon Ginger took command of the situation. Up she got, some time during the intense heat of one of the warmest days of the year so far, and decided to break down the fence to get to her mate. When I went out to feed tea there she was lying outside his gate waiting to be let in. And he was standing on the other side equally patiently waiting for someone to slide the bolt and let her through. I'm sure he could easily have opened it himself but perhaps it's part of the ritual of letting the humans think they're in control?
Suffice to say I opened the gate and she lumbered down to his quarters and, after he'd finished his tea, they spent a very pleasant (and noisy!) afternoon making whoopee. By dusk she was back in her own boudoir fast asleep. Where she stayed till this afternoon when off she ambled once more to repeat the previous day's  episode! Then it was back to her territory to sleep it off again.
Nature's way. We'll let her, and them, tell us what to do for the best.