Hi NapoleonsBird
So pleased to hear you have at least one hog back there. If you have a camera, the hogs sometimes help us out by scratching right in front of them so we can see if they are male or female. The males have a ‘blob’ mid-abdomen. Keep the camera near the food for a while and the hog might have a scratch in front of it. You can learn to tell one hog from another by their natural markings.
But you can also tell male from female by their behaviour. Males are much more likely to biff another male. During courtship the male will circle the female whilst she turns round and round within the circle, huffing as she goes and her little legs pattering up and down – almost like a little jig.
I often find a name which will do for either male or female just in case. But beware of getting too attached to individuals – it can lead to sadness if anything happens to them (with wild animals, so much is out of our control) – but the hogs also give us a lot of delight, which I think more than makes up for that. And hogs have to be wild and free – that is part of the magic of them – that it is they who choose whether to honour us with their presence.
Good luck with the hogs, and here’s hoping for some hoglets later on.
