I must admit I’m quite conflicted about the whole marking issue. On the one hand I don’t want to interfere with any wild animal just for my own benefit as you say Nic but on the other hand I would desperately like to be able to identify the different hogs to see which ones are visiting and how often.
I have really tried to identify them as you have discussed before Nic (my drawing ability is about the level of a five year old so drawing their faces is not feasibleš¤£). In some cases if they have a tick or a mark somewhere it is possible but in the vast majority of cases (for me) the main ways I do it are simply based on size and whether someone else has marked it, so in that respect I actually benefit from someone else doing it. I don’t think of them as my hogs anyway so if someone else marks one it doesn’t offend me.
I did consider trying to mount a UV security marker pen in the feeding station tunnel so it drags a mark on the hog as it passes without me actually having to interfere with it. Problem is if the hogs come late at night when I’m in bed I could end up with different hogs with the same marking then I’m back to square one š¤£
