Stealth Hog

Telltale Poo!!

Hanging out the washing the other day I glanced down and what did I spot on the lawn but ....

Poo ....

At first I assumed one of the cats had diarrhoea - which was not welcome news in light of recent events, but on closer inspection and checking out the rest of the lawn I discovered that it was hoggie poo. LOTS of hoggie poo!

Now, this was a bit of a conundrum because the back garden is now fully 'enclosed' due to one side being shut off for Sonny's Garden and the other side being shut off to keep Westley on our property.

Hmmmmm ..... So .... Who? Where? What? How?

A tunnel fit for a hoggie

 Who?

Well, I suspect it could be be 'Red' as he had been sleeping in the garden bedroom box consistently for quite a while before he disappeared at the end of summer, and I assumed he had gone off to hibernate elsewhere.






Where?

Caught in the Act

There aren't many suitable hog nest sites in the garden and I knew no one had gone to sleep in the bedroom box - which I had subsequently removed once I had blocked off any remaining hog access via the remaining side gate. The most likely spot was my long term compost heap / dumping corner so over I trundled and had a good look. On the back side of the heap, near the fence I found a tunnel so the 'Where' was no longer a mystery.

What?

Already figured that one out - a Hoggie!

How?

Well obviously at the end of summer someone tunneled themselves a nice wee nest under the heap and has been fast asleep all winter. I confirmed this with my IR camera and caught the Stealth Hog in the garden the following night.

So now I need to figure out what to do. I'd quite like to have a look at the hoggie to make sure it is healthy, give it a dose of Advocate and to try and identify it before sending it on its way but I'm not going to disturb its nest. So I'll make a nice warm nest box out of a cardboard box (I haven't finished my wooden nest boxes yet, darn it) stuffed full of hay, in the hope the hoggie will move in to it. I'll give it a week and if it does move in I'll check it out then relocate the box to the front garden. If it doesn't take up my invitation I'll just leave the gate open with the camera on it so I know when the hoggie has left. In the mean time I've got a feeder box full of bikkies and and nice dish of fresh water which the Stealth Hog is enjoying every night.