Well, the mystery of the strange noises in the videos has been solved. An expert has confirmed that it is indeed a young tawny owl begging for food and could help to explain why the hogs have been keeping out of the way.
After a rapid decline in hedgehog numbers over recent weeks, which coincided with the sighting of a dead badger close by – when I didn’t believe there were any – I started to suspect the worst and that we had a psychopathic badger stalking the streets of the village, picking them off one by one. All week I have been playing amateur detective frantically trying to solve the mystery, looking for hedgehog husks whilst out walking and getting up at 5.00am to check the cameras for any activity. Three cameras have been out covering all the entrances/exits points and I can now reveal what the little blighters have been up to. Long before they started to go missing I had noticed a change in their behaviour; despite diligently keeping the garden watered during this dry spell to keep them in the luxury that they’ve become accustomed to, they no longer roamed the borders. Thankfully this dry weather has kept the slugs in check, which is just as well because the hogs just haven’t been doing their job. Oh no, the cameras have revealed that they enter the garden, head straight for the cat biscuits and leave again after only 10 minutes. The three hogs that do still visit look very well fed, but they just don’t seem that hungry. Another thing I had noticed just before most of them went AWOL, is that their deposits had a shiny black, iridescent appearance, no doubt the remains of their favourite insects, shiny black beetles.
So, here are the conclusions that I have reached so far:
• Despite the prolonged dry spell, I believe that there is plenty of their natural food around so they are really not that hungry.
• Many females will be busy looking after hoglets and so the males may be roaming further afield.
• If they are only spending 10 minutes in the garden, it is unlikely that just one camera would pick them up and like Nic says, most of them are not that reliable.
• The new out of town shopping centre masquerading as a garden centre, which has recently opened very close by, sells an array of hoggy related accommodation and gourmet delights to tempt them elsewhere.
• They are keeping a low profile due to a young family of young tawny owls overhead.
• We may have a psychopathic badger roaming the streets, but so far some of them have managed to escape!
There are no such mysteries as far as the squirrels are concerned. Several bird feeders later and after much frustration and tinkering we have finally put a stop to their mindless vandalism (for now), they have finally decided that it is much easier to access the nuts in their own feeder.
The entrance to wood mouse HQ is now so large – thanks to all the felines trying to dig their way in! – that one of the young squirrels nearly vanished down it yesterday trying to steal their stash of seeds.
