I’m not sure that using a waterproof, water-based poster paint to identify ’hogs would bother them overmuch, it doesn’t have much of an odour. I’ve had a ‘hog in the garden with a light coloured patch on its flank, but the patch seemed to vary, so it may have been something it had come into contact with.
As it is, identifying the different ’hogs is near to impossible, there aren’t any significant markings on them, the only one I can identify is by the noises she makes, (I’m assuming it’s a female, there’s a lot of loud snorting goes on from other ‘hogs that turn up and get close to her), and she makes a funny little chuckling noise as she wanders around the garden, I can often be aware of her before I see her. What I’m considering doing is getting a set of dayglo waterproof water-based poster paints, and just letting a few drops drip onto their spines, that way I can use a UV led light to see the colours from a distance.
I was watching a hedgehog release being done on a TV programme recently, and the ‘hogs all had different colour patches on their backs – a water-based non-toxic paint shouldn’t cause any issues, if made for use by children.
Here’s our little group of visitors on Monday night, after the suet pellets I put down for the birds, they’d already been at the kitty kibbles and dog food on the feeding boxes to the right of the photo, I hadn’t realised we had four!
https://i.postimg.cc/Prvy9WG8/4CDFBA46-0E12-4838-B2D2-06E9D31596FD.jpg
