Hi Hogmeister
I think the hogs sometimes go a bit slowly after they have been ‘rolled up’ in the hope that the aggressor doesn’t notice them, as often here, he will rush back if he has heard one unrolling. A few years back the boss hog here was a real terror and he would sometimes have four other hogs rolled up at once and he seemed to keep a careful eye or ear out for them unrolling when he would rush back and biff them again. At the same time he had be known to be courting two ‘ladies’ at once. I’m not sure they were that impressed by that, but hung around – they must have thought he had good genes. There are still a lot of hogs around with a remarkable resemblance to him.
I wouldn’t intervene in that sort of thing, if I were you. I have noticed a sort of pecking order here, and if you were to interfere, the antics might just get even rougher out of sight. I have never seen any of them too much worse for wear afterwards – they are pretty well insulated by their spines. They do have the choice to run off if they want to – and some do. My feeling is they should be left to sort it out for themselves.
Bernie, that did make me laugh, a hedghog trying to woo a brush!
Wildlife haven, and all. The females do seem to return from hibernation later than the boys, but I would have thought most would be out by now. They just may not have found their way back to where you are yet. One of the ‘regulars’ here from previous years has not been seen yet. I am still hoping she will reappear. One of the others has only reappeared in the last week, but since then has visited every night.
The girls tend to go into hibernation later as well. The boys don’t have to worry about the hoglets at all, so are able to put on the weight needed for hibernation more quickly. It also has the advantage that the boys are able to put on weight after hibernation before the girls reappear, after which they must use up an enormous amount of energy tearing around all over the place, looking for girls, having altercations, etc. ! I think the boys have larger ranges than the girls, so there always seem to be more of them around.
