Nests

[Gr8mums]

Hi, do hedgehogs only make what I would describe as nests for their young , or would they make one just for day time naps ?

I had two hoglets and an adult in my boxes earlier on, but now the two wee ones seem to have left but the adult is still around . I peeked into the boxes yesterday and two of them have nests , round balls of hay with twigs and leaves . I had thought that there was probably a Hedgehog inside these nests so I placed a srunched up bit of newspaper in the entrance to check (I was careful only to lift the corner of the lid of the box and not disturb any hog inside). I was surprised this morning to find the newspaper still where I left it ! So no hogs in the boxes despite seeing the adult out and about last night .

I am wondering if these nests were made by mum for the hoglets , and am puzzled where the adult was sleeping if it wasnt in either of the boxes. He/she must have been snoozing in the bushes or in a neighbours garden. I have another box that looked like it hadn’t been used at all, no nest inside just some hay scattered around that I had placed inside . I’m thinking of using it as feeding station to keep the food dry and protected from the worst of the weather now summer is over.

Thanks .

[Gr8mums]

Meant to say, the reason I peeked into the boxes was that I saw a mouse in the garden and had a horrible thought that there might be loads of them living in the boxes or even a rat and they were eating the food !

Fortunately not , must just have been a little field mouse visiting us who I’m sure is perfectly harmless to the Hedgehogs.

[Nic]

Hi Gr8mums

Hedgehogs do change nests, especially in the Summer and at this time of year. They apparently even sometimes make new hibernation nests in the middle of hibernation.

The young ones seems to miraculously know how to make nests when they are quite young. It is quite possible that they may have made a nest of some description for overday stays. I had a hoglet here, late last year. He was heavy enough to hibernate but chose not to. He made a fairly elaborate nest in the feed box, but didn’t always stay in it. He used it for short naps between snacks and some overday stays.

The Mother could easily have made a new nest elsewhere. Maybe in someone else’s garden. Bearing in mind that hedgehogs can travel 1-2 miles a night, there is plenty of choice of potential locations.

I quite often have wood mice here eating some of the hog food, but they don’t bother the hedgehogs at all and the amount of food they eat is very minimal.

[Author]

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