Hi Annie
That’s great that you’ve got your hog house and brilliant idea to use the kennels for storage of extra nesting material. Fingers crossed for the visitor to take up residence.
Hog foot flavoured water! And most likely dirty hog foot flavoured water, at that!
Still no hogs here. Have had a couple of rats – I know they were different ones, one had lost part of it’s tail – so I’ve stopped leaving any food out. Don’t want to be feeding rats. There haven’t been any hogs for months now and I still have the camera out, so if one turned up, some food would be out the next night. The cats still visit but not as often now that they aren’t finding any food. If I put bricks in the hog house ‘corridor’ to reduce the height they can’t get in there, but can obviously smell when there’s food there. Quite funny to see them climbing on top, etc. to see if they can find another way in! But when there are more hogs around I tend to use the perspex sheet because not all the hogs like eating in boxes.
I saw one of the frogs yesterday – it’s little beady eye peaking out from the iris pond. They seem to like those to hide behind. I have a half pot (an old terracotta one which broke) on it’s side for the frogs, too, but have never seen one in there. Although in the Summer it’s surrounded by vegetation, so I suppose it’s possible they’ve been in there. Yes, I’ll probably never get round to making a bigger pond and as you say a bigger one might attract a heron – not that I’d mind that, as such, but wouldn’t want the frogs to be eaten! Just wish I could have some tadpoles! That would be fun.
A couple of days ago I saw a humming-bird hawkmoth, which was a surprise so late in the year. All the usual birds are still around. Starlings have been looking a bit miffed that there’s no remains of any hog food left for them early in the morning, but they just have to wait for their own food to go out.
Yes, it’s good they’ve started vaccinating people. Everyone I’ve spoken to about it seems to be planning on being careful at Christmas, either seeing relatives outside, planning on getting together in the Spring instead, etc. So I just hope the majority will be a bit careful. Also hope the weather is o.k. or people are more likely to be tempted indoors.
Hope you stay safe, too.
