Hi hog devotee
The general recommendation is to clean hog houses out in April and October.
https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cleaning-out-boxes/
If you are absolutely certain there is not a hog in there, or even using it some days, or part of the time, then you could clean them out. But, it isn’t always easy to tell whether a hog is hibernating in a box (without disturbing them), they can be completely covered in vegetation – and, of course, they won’t be coming and going. Also I had a non-hibernator here a few years ago, who obviously had a nest elsewhere, as well, but spent some of his days in a nest he had made near the feeding area. So if I had cleaned that out on the basis that he wasn’t hibernating there, he probably wouldn’t have been very pleased! So you need to be careful.
Unfortunately, cameras aren’t totally reliable. Hogs seem to be very clever at entering and exiting places, in the space in between clips of video, etc. Rumours of hog invisibility cloaks abound!
