Hi JollyP
The way I see it, about releasing over-wintered hoglets back into the wild, is that, even if some of them may be at slightly more risk, if they hadn’t been taken in in the first place even fewer of them would have survived. But it is almost inevitable that they will become a bit less wary of humans even if not handled much – there would still be humans around. I still think it is worth doing it, even if it must be heartbreaking when something like this happens.
If you want to keep on feeding the hogs, maybe just make things as difficult for the fox as possible. Maybe putting barriers in various places that would deter the fox but the hogs could get through or under. The trouble is, foxes are so clever. Every time I think of an idea, I think, no, the fox would find a way round that or just wait on the other side. I can just imagine your garden turning into a series of wide hog height ‘walkways’ all over the place! The fox may able to squeeze underneath, but wouldn’t be able to pounce and would be at a disadvantage! Only problem is, you wouldn’t be able to go there either! Ok, maybe a bit ott but you could have removable ‘walkways’ with hog height pegs in the ground and you could have unscrewable tops which you could lift off in the daytime if you wanted. Better stop before I get any more crazy ideas!
Love the sound of the hog who thinks he’s a dog. I know a sheep a bit like that! Like many animals, they are much more intelligent than many of we humans give them credit for.
