Sonny with a Chance of Showers....

Five weeks have passed since I put Sonny back outside into the uber insulated, heated bedroom of her hutch. I had no idea what she was going to do but I had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't going to stay in the hutch and she proved me correct, staying in her bedroom for two whole nights before decamping to a new nest site.

 Her nest site of choice was under a Comfrey bush. Said bush wasn't very big and unfortunately didn't offer much protection so Sonny spent a very busy night digging a burrow and bringing pea straw from another area of the garden to bolster her cover. When I discovered her in the morning she was fast asleep in her marginally adequate nest and I made the decision not to disturb her as when I had done so in the past she had become very distressed and confused.

Sonny's nest site with some extra cover & insulation added

Over the next night or two Sonny excavated her nest some more but didn't increase the top cover so I decided to give her some help. Grabbing the ply wood cover I had made for Posh's house, I put it over Sonny's nest and then back stuffed it with heaps and heaps of hay. I hoped that these measures would keep Sonny warmer and drier - especially as we had some extremely wet weather heading our way.



Over the next few weeks I checked for signs of life and yes I have to admit it, death. There were no signs of anything so I just assumed Sonny was hibernating and chose to leave her to it, letting Mother Nature guide Sonny in her struggle to be a wild hoggie. 

Alternative bedroom in place

But, I couldn't quite rest easy as I was really worried Sonny was going to get flooded out of her nest due to the huge amount of rain we were having, so I grabbed a spare plastic bedroom box, filled it with lovely warm, dry hay and installed it close to Sonny's nest. I checked the box every day for signs that she might have gone into it but it sat there, completely undisturbed much to my frustration.

Another week passed and I decided to put some cat biscuits under the hay on the floor of the box just in case she woke up and by some miracle decided she wanted to eat food that I had left for her. Two more nights passed and then on the morning of the third; upon checking the box, I discovered that the biscuits were gone ....

Sonny's entry / exit tunnel

I couldn't be sure that the cats hadn't managed to get their paws through the door of the box and dragged the biscuits out so that night I put the biscuits further into the box, under they hay. The next morning the first thing I did was check the box and once again the biscuits were gone, except for some crumbs. Now crumbs were an exciting discovery, because when hoggies eat cat biscuits, they usually leave some crumbs so it was looking pretty likely that it was Sonny and not the cats that was eating them. I had also been checking the nest site for likely looking entry/exit tunnels and sure enough I spotted what I was sure was one.

Next night I upped the portion size, making a bit of a tunnel under the hay, further into the box. I also set up my IR camera to try to grab some footage of Sonny to help assess her condition. The next morning ALL of the biscuits were gone, Sonny's entry/exit tunnel was more defined and the disturbance at the entrance of the box - which I guess is now her chosen feeder box, was much more obvious. I almost did a Happy Dance on the spot!

 

 

 

Sonny entering her chosen feeder box

I grabbed the camera and brought it inside to have a look at the SD card...

Now, although I got some photos of Sonny which is really good, she is very thin which isn't great but at least she is FINALLY eating which means she now has a chance to survive the winter and her hibernation. It looks like she is doing the same as Charlie and is waking up on warmer nights to feed. she must be absolutely starving and I am just so incredibly relieved that she has decided to accept the food that I am offering. 

Sonny leaving her feeder box.

Judging from the time stamps on the photos, Sonny visited her feeder at least four times last night. I really hope she keeps it up and stays out of deep hibernation until she has gained back a very large chunk of the weight she has lost since winter began.

I wonder if placing the biscuits under the hay makes foraging for them similar to foraging under the straw mulch as I've seen her do in the summer ... and now that she has decided that this is an acceptable feeder box and that the food I am offering her is ok, I hope she keeps it up!