One thing I’d add re hog houses intended for sleeping/hibernating is to please try and resist the temptation to keep checking inside them. This is particularly important when hibernation is happening because the temperature of the nest is quite important and you don’t want to disrupt it. At other times of year you could also be disturbing new mums and that can have very unpleasant consequences.
It’s easy to check house activity by leaving material around the entrance and see if it’s gets disturbed. I have a look each morning and I know immediately if they’ve been in and out overnight by the mess around the entrance! Once into winter and there’s little or no traffic then I just leave it. There might be a hog in there and there might not but it just isn’t necessary to open the lid. It’s always tempting but, occupied or not, opening it up doesn’t achieve anything and could possibly do harm.
