Will my hogs come back
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I have acquired a badger in my garden and am worried because my hogs seemed to have disappeared.am putting food out but big bertie the badger gets in first how can I get my hogs back please.do they live side by side
Hi antiguaannie
Sadly badgers are the main wild predator of hedgehogs and the hogs will often move away when badgers are around. Sometimes, if there is sufficient habitat they probably could co-exist to some extent, but the hogs would always be at risk of potential predation. I have heard of people feeding hogs and badgers side by side and others saying that the badgers ignore the hogs, but the badgers can’t be trusted with hogs – I have also heard of a situation where they had been fed side by side where a badger suddenly turned on a hog and killed it, despite there being plenty of other food around.
So I don’t really think there is anything you can do to get the hogs back. It might have been a case of self preservation that they moved away. If they do come back, I would consider carefully whether to feed them or not and make sure there are places they can escape to. Bearing in mind that badgers claws can make short work of a hog box.
I have nothing against badgers, if anything, it is habitat problem. We humans have damaged the habitat of them and hedgehogs, so that there is not as much available and therefore more likely to be conflicts between the two species.
On a more positive note, sometimes badgers are only passing through an area, so you never know big bertie might move on, giving the hogs more of a chance of coming back.
Had the same problem around 3 years back, with a badger coming into the garden. The hedgehogs dispersed and kept away. Like Nic i like badgers but it is not a good mix to have in the garden, my personal opinion.
How it was solved for me was that i stopped putting out food at night and cleared any spilt bird food. It took a few months or so, but the badger got the message and cleared off. The hedgehogs came back into the garden a little while later.
You probably wont be the only one feeding the hedgehogs so they wont go hungry. And with the warmer weather there will be more natural food around. Tough choice stopping the food, but sometimes we have to take them.Willpar.
Last year to my surprise I had 10 different Badgers visit my garden in one night from front and back. I was also a little worried in case the badgers arrived at the same time as the hogs. As I feed the badgers if and when they arrive, they should not really bother the hogs, I am sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong but I was under the impression that badgers only tend to attack hogs if they are struggling to find a food source. This was not a problem for me as I fed both but have had to block off the entrance at the back garden where the badgers were entering so hogs won’t be disturbed by the badgers now, but I will continue feeding the badgers that come round the front where I tend to leave their food outside front door. I use a hog feeding station which is quite heavy as it has a slate roof
Hi TinyTot66
As I wrote above badgers are the main wild predator of hedgehogs. I also wrote above ” I have also heard of a situation where they had been fed side by side where a badger suddenly turned on a hog and killed it, despite there being plenty of other food around.”. So it is clearly possible that badgers will attack hedgehogs even if they are not struggling to find food. So I would continue to do your best to keep them well apart, if I were you. I am sure the last thing you want is to see a badger tucking in to one of your hedgehog visitors. Having said that, hedgehogs will sometimes vote with their feet and avoid the area if they know badgers are around, so they may do that.
Badgers have strong claws which can easily rip through wood, so having a slate roof is not necessarily a deterrant to them. We had reports on the forum in the past of a wooden hog feeding box being ripped apart by badgers. It’s easy enough for a badger to turn over a hog box.
Just bear in mind that badgers are wild animals. It is their instinct to hunt for their prey animals. That instinct is not going to go away just because they are offered some artificial food as well.
I see from your other post https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/forums/topic/why-do-hogs-visit-every-night-for-about-a-week-then-just-vanish/ that you have had a problem with hogs ‘vanishing’. Maybe they have decided it is not safe to visit your garden with all those badgers around. Sometimes you just need to settle for one species visiting, or the other.
I hope the position sorts itself out without any fatalities. Good luck.
Yes I did find it strange that the hogs disappeared after about 1 week but I never saw the badgers at the same time. I have cctv so tend to watch the comings and going every night. When I saw the hogs return every night since last week I was a little concerned should the badgers return but have not seen any as yet. Am in the process of having my whole garden created solely for wildlife, basically from a blank canvas, already have most of the hedging growing really well now, just waiting for the wonderful Joel Ashton who is a fantastic wildlife garden designer and has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of wilding your garden so I will have a sanctuary for wildlife. Very large wildlife pond, log piles, and have a few hog houses already set up. Hogs are such beautiful creatures and I feel blessed to have their company so can’t wait to get my wildlife friendly garden started.
Hi TinyTot66
Your proposed wildlife garden sounds brilliant. I wish more people were as dedicated to help wildlife in their gardens. It can make such a difference.
It sounds as if you’re saying that the badgers have moved on. Sometimes if they’re disturbed where they have been living, they disperse and could just have been in the area temporarily until they could find a suitable more permanent new home. If that’s the case, hopefully the hedgehogs will venture back – especially as your wildlife garden progresses.
Good luck – hope the wilding work goes well.
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