Hedgehog in our hedgehog house

[Sarahgoodie]

We have had a hedgehog house for a couple of months now. Every night at least one hedgehog visits and eats food we leave in there. I read that they don’t like to nest where their food is but I thought it would keep the cats off & encourage them to use it. This afternoon a5 about 6.30 pm I went out to refil the food bowl and a hedgehog is inside!!!!! It was curled up in the farthest corner from the entrance and had moved the hay inside over top of the food bowl. The hedgehog looks ginormous!!! I’m wondering if this is a female and if she is nesting there to have hoglets? Not sure what to do… I have removed the food bowl and left it just house with food in. any other ideas as to what to do? I don’t want to keep lifting the lid to disturb it if it is a female having babies….. very exciting though!

[Nic]

Hi Sarah

That is very exciting. But you are right not to keep lifting the lid, in case it’s a female. But it also may be a male using it for a short stay. They do sometimes decide to spend the day in a feed box. I had two during the really hot weather who seemed to take it in turns. I suppose they must have thought it was cooler in there. I imagine if a hog is planning a longer stay, it will take more nesting material in, so you may get an idea of what is happening. The hogs here who have made a nest usually leave a little trail of vegetation into the doorway. If they are making a nest you will have to put the food somewhere else. I had to have a new feed box last autumn when a hog decided to build a nest in the original one!

I’m guessing you don’t have a camera? You could quietly put something, such as a twig or a ball of paper, in the doorway so that you can see if the hog comes out, but of course won’t know if it goes back in. To be safe, I would just leave the food nearby so that the hogs still find it, but try not to disturb the box. Keep an eye on it to see if you can work out what is happening.

Good luck.

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