That’s outrageous, Penny. As you say, there is no need for this excessive marking. The marking round here seems to be done with some sort of substance which doesn’t show up so much in normal light but does in infra red from the cameras, when it shows up as very dark marks. I dread to think what it is or what it is doing to the poor hogs. Unnecessarily large areas of the hog are being covered. Last year one probably had 3/4 of the area of it’s spines covered. I suppose the person who is doing this thinks they are being clever, but the hog is still covered in some foreign substance which could interfere with it’s social interactions. I can’t help wondering whether that, as well as mealworms and A24 traps could be contributing to the very markedly reduced numbers of hogs in the area this year. If the female doesn’t smell right is the male going to pursue it in the same way it would have done otherwise. Hoglet numbers were way down last year since this marking has escalated. I cannot produce proof, but it is entirely logical and if there is any doubt, why would anyone want to risk it.
I saw last year that the battles were far more ferocious amongst marked hogs with the one who would normally have given in and rolled up fighting back so that it ended up with one of them being shaken like a dog with a rat. If the normal scent of a hog is masked by some foreign substance the hogs may not have recognised each other which could have minimised conflict.
Some of the hogs here look as if the same one may have been marked by more than one person, having the dark blobs and some paler ones as well. If someone is going to mark hogs AT ALL they should make contact with other hog friendly people so they could agree to some scheme so that this doesn’t happen.
I really wish BHPS would produce a poster about this subject. Maybe you could send them a copy of your photo, Penny? I was contemplating contacting them again myself, but haven’t been able to get a good enough image of the hogs here.
I agree with Jan-Marie your lady hog looks lovely. That’s how most hog lovers want to see the hogs not as some parody of themselves covered with ridiculous marks.
