Hi daffydill
Great news that you have a hog or hogs there. As Jackietb says, it’s always worth a try having another hog house. Some hogs are still around, and some youngsters apparently still sharing and they may want their own places when it comes to hibernating for them. Also hogs apparently sometimes change their hibernacula during the hibernation time – so another reason to have a spare hog house or two around!
As important as the hog houses are the materials with which they can build their nests within them. So loads of medium sized leaves and long grasses are useful to leave fairly near to the hog house to encourage them. They use far more than we might think, as they layer the leaves, so think how much you think would fill the box and multiply that several times. If you don’t have lots of leaves in your garden, someone you know might have some spare. The thing to do is just put about a handful of material in the box to give them the idea and then they can do the rest themselves. They are incredibly clever builders – even hoglets.
Some hogs, hoglets in particular, choose not to hibernate, in which case just keep offering food all winter, but especially leave water out all winter, whether you know there are any hogs around or not. One might suddenly appear. But even if they don’t hibernate they might welcome a hog house to shelter in or spend days in.
Hope all goes well. Good luck and happy hog watching!
