Reply To: Providing bedding

[Spindles]

I have had hogs nesting in my garden over the last three or four years. One successful outside nest was one I made from a large hanging basket frame covered in thick plastic then vegetation which is on the floor of a mini greenhouse and last year a female raised four babies in it. As well as that nest the nearby shed has holes in the bottom of the door that hogs can get under and one nested in a pile of leaves in the corner so last winter I put three cardboard boxes in the shed and all three were eventually occupied. There are three new boxes in the shed at the moment but none have been taken so far but a hog has decided to build its nest under some “junk” in the corner instead. I have found that even though the hogs have access to the many leaves from the fruit trees as well as other vegetation in the garden they prefer shredded newspaper. When I saw that the hog had started its nest I scraped up leaves and dried them off before putting them in the shed and although the first lot were used, after I provided the newspaper the leaves were ignored and mouthfuls of paper have been taken into the nest instead. I have several internet cameras around the garden and one in the shed so can see the activity that is going on and have many videos of nest building. Last year was especially funny as one hog would carry a lot of shredded paper into its nest then tootle off to get some more, meanwhile another hog would come out of its box and steal the paper and had stuffed it in his box by the time the other hog came back!