Going down early- 17th August!

[Roy Finch]

I have several regular visitors; one I often find kipping in a feeding station. i gently ease the hog. off the feed bowl and leave it alone. I then put the bowl back coming up to dusk. The hog. might do a couple of nights then go elsewhere.
This morning when I lifted the lid, the hog. is in there and the bowl and space filled with leaves.
There are 3 hibernacula in the garden unused at the moment.
Seems very early, even with climate change for a hog. to start nesting up. usually no nesting material is brought into the feeding station.
Thoughts/comments would be welcomed.
Thank you

[Roy Finch]

Have now answered my own query.
The hog. was in 4 days running, with more and more leaves around it. Weds-Sat.
Sunday am, it had gone.
Back today, am Monday 21st August, no leaves around it; I had cleared them out.

[Nic]

Hi Roy Finch

Well done answering your own query! Sorry no-one replied sooner.

As you have discovered, hogs don’t always stick to what we might think they will do. They all have their quirks and seem to like to keep us guessing! Some will settle down for the day on ‘bare boards, some will take in a small amount of material and then there is the one there who seems to have liked to have his sleeping area ‘fully furnished’. The interesting thing is that maybe he was using it as some kind of insulation – to keep the heat out – although not sure how hot it was then, or even if it would work. But maybe he just got carried away. Although we always need to be a bit careful in case they are a female planning a birthing nest. But it seems not in this case.

I quite often get hogs speding days in a feed box here, but usually they have little or no ‘bedding’ in the Summer. But they will return for repeat visits – whether the same, or a different hog.

But, yes, it’s a bit early for even the males to start hibernating. Although it’s not long till September and some of the males begin hibernation during September. They then come out of hibernation earlier than the females – giving them the opportunity to put on some condition before the females return.

Good luck with the hogs there – sounds as if they are well catered for.

Happy hog watching!

[Roy Finch]

Thanks Nic.
yes, as i said previously, it is, I reckon the same individual that was coming in May to July occasionally and kipping overnight for between 1 and 3 nights in succession, then reappearing later. My only concern was, that these times it was pulling in dead leaves. Probably yet another sign of Climate Change, ‘cos there wouldn’t in previous years, be leaves falling in July/August.
Something else to talk about as “experience” alongside the slide shows!

[Author]

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