Hi daffydill
Yes, they do follow regular routes a bit, but I think would look for another way round if they had to. The only thing is it might take a day or so for them to work out a new route.
It always makes me laugh that most of the hogs here, usually use the ‘human’ path to get up and down the garden, when it isn’t actually the most direct route!
But yes, extremely dry. Really important to leave water out all day every day. A dehydrated hog could potentially be looking for water during the daytime as well, so it could be a life saver.