Hi Acer and Smileymiley
Welcome, both, to the Forum!
I’ll reply both together, so not everything will apply to both of you.
It’s brilliant that you both have hogs visiting and that you are planning on adapting your gardens to help them.
The important thing to know is that hedgehogs have been managing for millions of years without our ‘help’, so you don’t need to worry too much about their hibernation nests (hibernacula) – they are very capable. Just bear in mind that a hog box is just a structure within which a hog can build a hibernaculum. The hogs are able to build a far more intricate nest then we would be able to do.
One of the problems hogs face is that there are not so many hedges, and suitable areas for them to build their hibernation nests, so hog boxes are a great help to them. But, other then a roof, a hog box does not need to be waterproofed. Hog nests are designed to be outside and so a well built nest should remain waterproof, even if a hog box leaks a little bit. So the hog box you have, Acer, sounds fine. You are honoured that a hog has taken to it already, sometimes they don’t use them for a year or two (when they have become part of the furniture!). So quite a hog seal of approval!
But yes, they do need huge amounts of material. Medium sized leaves and long grasses are best, so that they can weave the structure together. They sort of layer the leaves, a bit like tiles, so that it isn’t just piled up in a haphazard fashion – hence they use far more than we might expect. But that’s why it’s a really good idea when/if you rake the leaves off the grass to leave them somewhere that the hogs can access – even if it’s just into a border. I find that they usually tend to disappear eventually even if the hogs don’t use them.
Cat/dog/hog food is fine to offer them (mince not ideal), but really important is to offer water – all day every day, including during winter. It’s possible they might be able to find some wild food, but sometimes impossible to find water and they do drink quite a bit. But making your gardens more hog friendly is ideal. Wild food is better for hogs than anything we can offer them, but, as things stand, it’s useful for them to have a bit of supplementary food. The complete ideal would be to increase and extend suitable habitat so that we no longer needed to offer supplementary food, but sadly we aren’t in that place at the moment.
If you are the sort of person who likes a tidy garden, you can still make it hog friendly. You can have tidy woodpiles in open sided boxes or gabion baskets – the insects, beetles, etc. don’t mind whether the pile of wood, etc. is tidy, as long as it’s there. Likewise you can have a neat area of wild flowers – either with grass mown around them, or with a path around. A rough area is good, too, but I wouldn’t want to think that tidy minded people felt that they couldn’t help hogs, too. Also, as said previously, the leaves can still be raked off the lawn, into the borders. Hog boxes are a great idea, especially if there aren’t suitable rougher areas where the hogs can build their nests.
But yes, hog holes in the fences are very important. The hogs need lots of gardens to enable them to find sufficient food. If you can persuade all your neighbours to make hog holes as well, that would be great and then the hogs can have a whole hog highway! The more gardens are linked, the less likely it is that hogs need to cross roads, which are a huge hazard to them.
Yes, it’s a really good idea to have a good explore around Hedgehog Street – there is loads of good information there.
No, don’t worry about cats. Other than eating the food that’s meant for the hogs(!), they normally don’t bother each other much. I find the local cats, here, won’t try to get at the hog food if there is a hog actually eating.
Night cameras are a great idea. Gives you the opportunity to see a bit more what the hogs are getting up to. Also, whose really eating more of the food, hogs or cats.
Most hogs will be disappearing to hibernate soon (some will have already gone), so don’t be surprised if everythings goes quiet. Some hogs (hoglets in particular) decide not to hibernate. If one of those is visiting your garden, just continue to offer food as normal. Perhaps surprisingly, the cold doesn’t seem to bother them too much. But more normally most will hibernate so it’s just a case of looking forward to their return in the Spring. They do sometimes come out of hibernation for short periods during the winter and some people continue to put a small amount of food out all winter, anyway. But that’s why a constant supply of water is also useful.
I hope I’ve answered everything, apologies, if not!
Good luck and happy hog watching.
