First sighting from hibernation
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NearBracknell
We erected a shelter from one of the plastic storage boxes you can get from various sources/Ours is 24 x18x 6 ( inches) and put a 45 degree 4in pipe to deter cats getting it. Originally it housed a bowl of water and food, but last Oct one of the regulars decided to make it their ‘home’ and crammed it full with leaves
Last night on the fox video they appeared and had a wander around. luckily to foxes had left some chicken carcass scraps and hog chewed on some. tonight the bowl is going out!!One question re the house
Should i clean out the old leaves just in case it is a female and decides to make it a nursery or will they do it themsleves?
I put a camera out last night as we had cleaned the feeding station (similar to the one you described) we were shocked to get 121 photos and we had 7 separate visits to it and all the dry cat food was eaten.
Shocked they are out so early as it is cold still.
We are so excited to see them again.
Anyone else spotted hogs?Sorry missed the question, if the leaves are still fresh smelling I would leave them. We put hay in the house and they bring in leaves to add to it, I am not sure what is recommended I am sure there are many experts who will advise
It’s a choice issue here. If the box is fresh then fine to leave, however, if the box has been used over winter there is a likely hood of ticks/eggs being in there so cleaning it would remove them.
We had our first sighting on 27th February – it was -4 C that night, and the hog has come back every night since. On Monday (1st March) there were two having a slight disagreement over who got which water bowl but after the pushing order was established, they seemed happy to ignore each other.
Hello,
Regarding your hedgehog box I would go collect a load of leaves and dry them. Then wait until the hedgehog is out in the garden so you can quickly go change the bedding with fresh stuff. Burn the old bedding because there will probably be parasites in it.
If you can make a wooden box instead of the plastic one that would be better because plastic boxes can become wet with condensation. Good luck3rd of March found the cat biscuit all gone and a few small hedgehog poo’s.
4th of March saw two hedgehogs feeding using the camera in the early hours.Will be constantly feeding and watering from now on
I’ve just started to have the hogs back over the last few nights. Don’t have any camera,s but saw one last night but the food has been going for about the last few days. Nice to have ’em back
Hi silverfox 60017
The hogs won’t empty out the box themselves, so you will need to do that sometime, if you want the box to be used again. This link is information from Hedgehog Street about cleaning out hog houses: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/cleaning-out-boxes/
I would be inclined to keep the plastic one for feeding and have a wooden one for nesting. That way you can clean the hog house out with boiling water which will kill any parasite eggs. But don’t put anything resembling bedding into a feed box, or it might give them the idea to set up home there again.
But yes, if the box has been used overwinter it’s likely to have parasite/parasite eggs in it and you need to be a bit careful how you clean it out to make sure you don’t get any ticks on you and dispose of the old bedding carefully.
Personally, I wouldn’t replace the leaves whilst a hog was out during the night, because you risk leaving parasite eggs behind and there is the chance that the hog may not like it and move out anyway. It’s best to wait until the hog has vacated completely – which they usually do.
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