Do Male HH use house / nest ?
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I noticed a HH on my wildlife cam just a week ago (having a drink out of the dustbin lid that the foxes use.) I made him/her a house and separate feeding station, sited in under a bush in the shade. The trail cam showed me he/she used the house the first night and has done every night since. He/she comes out for the night about 21.30 and goes back to the house about 4 a.m. Does the use of the house indicate it may be female ? Many thanks.
Hi Shelley112
That’s lovely that you’ve made houses for the hogs and even better that someone has taken up residence so quickly!
Males make good use of hog houses as well so it’s quite likely it’s a male – but otherwise possibly a non-breeding female. The females usually make their nests fairly shortly before giving birth and people often see them taking nesting materials in – sometimes into daylight time. But if a female had youngsters I wouldn’t expect her to be out for so long.
If it is a male he may not stay long term – it can vary from one hog to another, but some will change sleeping places fairly often in the Summer, sometimes sleeping outside under bushes, etc. But if ‘he’ does move out he could return again later in the season. Male hogs have larger ranges than females and can travel as much as 2 miles a night – so they may decide to sleep in other parts of their ranges from time to time. Here male hogs often decide to bed down in feeding houses (after ‘a night on the tiles’!) for a day or two, but then move on to sleep elsewhere afterwards.
But it’s a definite hog seal of approval that the hog house has been used so quickly.
Good luck and happy hog watching.
Hi I’m soo happy I was walking around my small garden the start of February and noticed a lot of empty snail cases and I thought i it was the frogs as we have a pond in the back garden so I thought I would put the camera out and saw a hog coming out of the house in the front garden it must have over winter in it now its sleeping in a house by the back door it has been taking hay from one house to the one it’s sleeping in could it be a female
Hi Sammy9
Great news about the hog! It’s probably a bit early to tell whether it’s male or female. Both will sometimes borrow bedding from another hog house. In general, males tend to come out of hibernation earlier than females, but there are always variations. Hopefully time will tell. It would be lovely if it is a female and has hoglets in your garden! Fingers crossed! Let us know how things go.
Happy hog watching!
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