Hi Brian
I studied the hogs visiting my garden for several years a few years back. I watched them in real time (didn’t have cameras then). I was able to recognise them by their natural markings, so was able to see how many were visiting, how often they visited, including how many times each night, etc. Also their interactions with each other. There was a good sized population.
The numbers have definitely substantially reduced. The decline in numbers started when someone began to excessively mark the hogs. That may have had in impact, but it may also be that other people had begun to feed them so that they didn’t necessarily visit my garden any more. But I did also hear about someone feeding mealworms, which may also have had a detrimental impact on population size whilst at the same time encouraging the hogs there rather than here.
But sadly it seems hogs are declining in general. You mention a village – not sure whether that’s a country village, but if country, apparently they are doing less well in the country than they are in urban/suburban areas.
I think quite a few people have kept notes about hog visits at various times.
