Hi Nic
Oh mean hog appearing then going again! I’m happy to report that every night is still Paddington Station (pre covid) here judging by the food that gets eaten & the poo left behind. It’s a bit cold to sit out the back but if I go & stand briefly in Minx’s pen most nights I’m rewarded by the sound of hoggy teeth crunching away on Tesco kitten biscuits from the other end of the garden. The poo varies between nice healthy looking stuff to pretty awful, happily mostly the former. Heaven knows what other people are feeding them is the problem isn’t it.
Jacobi Jayne hog food has been getting a slating on Twitter, it included sultanas, mealworms & honey but I’ve noticed their ads say they’ve removed the fruit & worms & reduced the honey. Still not a good mix if you read the ingredients & I don’t think they need honey at all. Apparently there’s no regulation of hedgehog food so anybody can sell anything they like & call it hog food.
You seem to have an excess of big birds, Ive just ordered a different seed mix as the stuff I have has too much waste as nobody wants some of the ingredients not even the pigeons who I thought I could rely on to hoover up any dropped food. Sick of brushing it up & throwing it away. I’m trying different ones until I get it right, at least the internet is useful for that, can’t imagine how I’d buy it at all without it.
I signed the petition, in fact have signed a few lately. Petitions sometimes are successful, mountain hares’ persecution in Scotland are an example of that except it isn’t yet in their legal system as it takes forever so they’re still being killed by unspeakable people.
Yes, next door’s annual cutting is a worry, there’s a heap by my fence where they’ve piled up cut grass & shrub pieces which I’m fairly sure is home to fieldmice & would be good shelter for frogs & hedgehogs as it’s fairly substantial. Shame to have a potential wildlife haven in a garden with the threat of a strimmer & a dog. Dog poo everywhere, that rarely if ever is dealt with, smells lovely in hot weather….
Sparrowhawk has visited since, for about a week the birds stayed away as it’s been successful, found the feathers by the shed of some unfortunate little bird while they were staying away. Back now, coal tits aplenty, robins, sparrows, starlings returned from somewhere, collared doves but only 3, wood pigeons – 2 who brought an obvious baby with them but they’re not around too often during the day, magpies of course & a gang of feral pigeons who disappear for a few days then back again.
Hope the odd hog shares the mouse’s food in your feeder but if they’re hibernating that’s good too. Stay safe Nic.
