Note 7 — Daily Life and Matters Connected with It
Reading edition
These village pigs often wander away into the bush, and may disappear from sight for months; but they nevertheless still continue to be village pigs. If, however, they are not seen or heard of for a very long time (say six months), they are regarded as having become wild pigs, and may be caught and appropriated as such. It is usual with village pigs to clip or shorten their ears and tails, or even sometimes to remove their eyes, so as to keep them from wandering into the gardens.7 But even a village pig thus marked as such would be regarded as having become a wild pig if it had disappeared for a very long time.