Will hogs mind sonic cat repellent?

[TMoz]

Having seen hogs in the neighbourhood we decided to make our garden more hog friendly. We installed two hog holes in our fences, made a log pile and pond, and got a hog house. Unfortunately our neighbourhood also has a huge cat population. As well as decimating smaller wildlife and birds, 9 out of 10 cats prefer our garden for scratching and toilet needs and we have launched a proactive defence. This includes some sonic cat repellers. We have seen a hog using the hog house since we’ve had the repellers but am wondering if the repellers might deter hogs from using the garden frequently. Would be grateful for any thoughts and also any ideas for deterring cats but not hogs. Thanks.

[char2020]

I’ve found the cats don’t seem too interested in where the hogs are living but wonder if they would show more interest if hoglets appear? Could be tricky? Cats seem to use my garden as a thoroughfare but I found cats don’t like the smell of peppermint so sprayed fences where they were using as a toilet with this ( body shop version- meant for feet !) and also dried tea bags with a couple of drops of olbas oil. This was before I knew I had hog visitors but you could peg the tea bags to plants so they are off the ground as not sure hogs would like it either or if it would cause irritation? Holly or pyracanthas cuttings may deter cats too and encourage them to go elsewhere. Not sure how hogs would manage the thorns though ….could hurt paws if laid flat. Just some ideas ?

[Nic]

Hi TMoz

I would be reluctant to use a cat scarer with hogs around, although my only experience was with a rat scarer. I left it out during the day and normally removed it before the hogs arrived. One evening one turned up a bit early whilst the rat deterrant was still out. I saw the hog visibly flinch when it went past. Not very scientific evidence but good enough for me to not want to use any of that type of thing. But theoretically you could use them in daylight hours.

You could try the scent repellants i.e. mint etc, but that might deter the hogs too. I keep meaning to try the lion dung pellets I’ve seen in catalogues, but haven’t yet. I would be wary of putting down prickly stuff with hogs around, especially if they have to walk through it as well – it could injure their feet.

If you want to stop the cats using the garden as a toilet, not leaving bare soil works fairly well, i.e. lots of plants. But there will always be the occasional cat who will poo anywhere – one recenly pooed on one of my long patches of grass. I used to put loads of fairly short sticks all over the flower borders (long enough that it made it difficult for the cats to squat down – the hogs would be able to get between but the cats didn’t seem to like it.

But if you are worried about cats bothering the hogs, then hogs generally don’t seem bothered by them. You can keep them away from food by using feed boxes that cats can’t get into. My current method is a sheet of perspex type material (used to serve as double glazing, so window sized) balanced on flower pots which are along either side and a hog box blocking the back (but it could be against a wall). The entrance area has shallow but fairly wide plant saucers with water in them. The hogs don’t mind at all walking through the water, but cats not so keen – especially as they have to creep on their bellies to reach the food, so would get their fur wet). This method has the advantage that hogs which don’t like going in boxes don’t seem to mind this set up. There are other ideas of keeping cats away from food on the forum.

Good luck and happy hog watching.

[Author]

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