Hi Yvonne
Sorry to hear about the new houses. Building work can be disruptive to hogs, not least to their routes. There seem to be hogs re-appearing in many places now, even if many of them might be males. But if they didn’t hibernate until December they might not appear until later than normal. The females tend to hibernate later, anyway and in the past I have had females making their way back here as late as early May.
I had a female here who didn’t disappear until 3/4 into January. She isn’t back, but there is no guarantee that any hog will return. It is a dangerous time of year for hogs. All we can do is hope.
I would be inclined to continue putting a bit of food out, if I were you, even if it’s a bit less than usual. I was being plagued by cats, but once the hogs started appearing, the cats aren’t around so much. But at least any hog that returned would have half a chance of getting to the food you put out first.
The absolutely most important thing, though is to leave some water out, all day every day, all year round. A hog newly out of hibernation would likely welcome that and water is often hard for them to find.
Good luck. I hope some hogs return soon. Fingers crossed.
