Visting/staying hedgehogs
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I have 6 different ones that visit my garden with 4 holes, 2 of which are occasional haunts, 1 which is permanent. I’ve noticed recently that the permanent one tends to get quite damp inside with occasional ‘mess’ left behind.I notice this at night when i check the box after it has ‘gone out’.I clear away any obvious easy to get at mess and get rid of any ticks that i find.(this has been very successful as he has either 1 or none most of the time now on him)
My main concern is the dampness and mess left behind-is this normal? he seems healthy enough and is still eating loads.many thanks, Paul.
Hi Paul
Sorry your post seems to have slipped through the net! Apologies that no-one has answered sooner. Lovely to hear that you have several hogs visiting.
The thing about nests is that normally hogs would move nests from time to time, probably to minimise problems from parasites, etc. So that if you have been cleaning out the nest every night, that isn’t natural and might be encouraging the hog to stay there longer than it might otherwise have done.
Normally a hog house should only be cleaned out if no-one is in residence, i.e. not if they are, at that time, living in the house, even if they have gone out for the night. Then, normally in autumn/spring the house can be properly cleaned out and boiling water used to get rid of any parasite eggs, etc.
The hog is obviously not hibernating if it’s out every night and eating. I would expect that if it’s going to hibernate that it would build another nest for that purpose.
But ultimately, it’s the hog’s choice so I would leave it to choose.
Good luck with them all.
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