Reply To: Got an Oggie….maybe two

[Phasmainmachina]

I can’t stop them eating mealworms or suet pellets, because there are always lots under my Acer tree where I hang my bird feeders, and I also throw mealworms on the ground for birds who don’t use the feeders like the robins, starlings and blackbirds, and also the sparrows. This is where the ‘hogs come every evening, and there are four out tonight.
As I explained above, I put down a variety of different cat food, the ‘hogs would eat a bit, spread it around then poo on it! They made it perfectly plain they weren’t particularly interested in it, and I tried half a dozen different varieties. When a plate full of fresh food is ignored except for a very large fresh poo right in the middle, and what looked suspiciously like a puddle of wee as well, then I honestly don’t think it’s worth trying to force an animal to eat what it obviously isn’t interested in.
They get plenty of water, there are three dishes set out for them, and they drink a lot, I’ve sat and watched them put their paws on the edge and tip them up to drink when the level gets a bit low, which is rather sweet!
The one that died clearly had issues, and if I’d known about it I would have sent it for autopsy, but I didn’t have the info at the time. It’s possible she was just at the end of her natural life, I only became aware of the ‘hogs regular visits to my garden last summer, because of a change in circumstances and the warm weather causing me and my partner to sit outside late into the evening, and seeing them arriving.
I think they’ve been visiting at least since the early 80’s, my then girlfriend accidentally kicked one down the front path when leaving the house one night! They’ve probably been coming into the garden all this time, I’ve just not been aware of them at night.