Hi Linire
You are definitely doing the right thing cutting out mealworms, especially at this time of year when not only hoglets may be around, but hogs are preparing for hibernation so need good nutritious food, which mealworms are not.
Many people have found that hogs are already disappearing and it may be that some of them are already hibernating. But I would keep leaving the hog food out in case some hogs appear. I have found that hoglets often appear, sometimes even after all the adults have gone off to hibernate. But hogs seem to be creatures of habit, a bit, and don’t always immediately take to changes in food offered, so I wouldn’t be tempted to change the food type until you have given it a really good try.
You might like to try to create a cat deterring feeding station, if they become a problem (probably magpie deterring, too!). There are some ideas of feeding stations in the Gallery accessed via the home page. I use a fairly large sheet of perspex type material balanced on earth filled 2 and 3 litre flower pots with bricks on top to stop it being pushed up/blown away. An ideal place to locate it would be against a wall (with the food near the wall), so that the cats have further to go to reach the food. It can easily be moved out of the way during daylight hours. This arangement seems acceptable even to those hogs who aren’t keen on going into boxes.
If you don’t see any hogs this year, don’t be tempted to give mealworms to any that return after hibernation. They will likely be hungry when they come back and more likely to eat what is offered. They will be in need of good nutritious food then, too, to put some weight back on.
Hopefully you’ll see some hogs back in the Spring if not before.
