Awkward so and so!
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We’ve had hogs coming to our suburban garden for a few years and now have anything up to 5 or 6 visiting our feeder most nights. We also have a couple of nest boxes in the garden and have had a large hog in residence in one of them for a while now.
A couple of nights ago, he or she decided to move out of the nest box (and beautifully-built nest) and moved into the feeding station, making it tricky to put out food and keeping out our other visitors!
There’s a ‘MyNatureWatch’ camera in there as well.
Dining arrangements need to be changed quickly!
Hi hc25036
The hogs do tend to move nests, especially in the Summer. It makes sense, if you think about it, as it would help to avoid the build up of parasites, such as fleas and ticks.
Re. nesting in the feed box. Sounds typical hog to me! Last Autumn I had a young hoglet here. He was big enough to hibernate but just chose not to. It did mean, though, that he was much more reliant on supplementary feeding so I felt it was important to keep providing some – in a feed box as cats had become a problem. After using it as a feed box for weeks, one early morning he started rushing around collecting nesting material which he then proceeded to put in the box – on top of the remaining food!
There was nothing for it but to have another feed box! The only thing I can suggest is that you also get another feed box and hope the hog there doesn’t decide to make a nest in that too! Good luck.
Since writing the above, I went to take the bowl out of the feed box, which I forgot earlier, and found a hog in there asleep. The second time that’s happened in the last few weeks. I imagine they find it cooler in there, with no bedding in this hot weather. Last time it was only a one day stay, so I’ll wait to see what happens this time.
We need some signs – there are 3 nest boxes and one feeder and he/she has chosen the feeder!
Your point about temperature is probably spot on – the nest box has plenty of bedding, whereas he/she has just put a few bits of grass in the feeder…
The hog in the feed box here has decided to stay and has now taken some bedding into the feed box. Not much, but even so, looks like he’s decided to make it his own. That feed box has double partitions in it so the section the hog’s in is not very big, but he’s a small hog. That’s hogs for you! I just hope another one doesn’t decide to take up residence in the other feed box! Three feed boxes might be a bit excessive.
My garden consist of two plots. I have 5 feeders split up between them. One has a nest in but not used at the moment. Another don’t seem to be used this year much. The other three are in use on a daily basis.
Seen three hedgehogs on the small plot when I went out with the camera tonight.Big hog brought a small friend to share his drinking bowl last night (seen on cam) and we’ve started putting food in our third nest box so that our other visitors can eat without climbing over the resident! We’ve started looking at web sites for a 4th box….
Can’t complain of course, even though the big hog has rightfully earned the nickname given by my wife – ‘big pooer’!
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