Hi mandy.sheldrake1,
was the tear a clean cut or ragged? Did the tear look to have been significant, new or old?
His demise could have been any number of things – or not tear related at all perhaps.
The hog could have escaped the clutches of a predator perhaps – but the only predator that can open up their spiny defence to get to their soft underbelly is the badger and hogs don’t often escape a badgers fierce claws tbh – and the hogs natural defence is to curl up and not run. Foxes don’t usually predate them, but can torment hogs and break their back legs. Cats wouldn’t have the strength, unless the hog was ill, similarly an owl would be faced with a curled spiny back, unless the hog was ill and defenceless.
Perhaps he got caught on something himself or trying to climb over something?
You could have correctly associated the hog number decline with the local landowners use of larger tractors for cutting etc. These machines are unforgiving on the coverage and many farmers are being driven to using every square inch of their land to cultivate crops etc. I understand the government are supposed to be bringing in some incentives for less intense farming and letting a proportion of their land go a little wild in order to support the wildlife which is struggling to survive in whats left – but that cant come soon enough and may be too little too late.
If you have a collective neighbourhood who share your concerns – could you pick up Chris Packham’s challenge he made on Winterwatch last week (don’t know if you watch that) – but to try and persuade your local farmer(s) to let at least some or a little of his edges and hedges go back to supporting wildlife and get ahead of the curve? Could be a life saver for your remaining hogs? Perhaps a local wildlife committee or Trust could help support the cause and get some focus on changes needed?
