Hi daffydill
They may have been using those houses for occasional overday stays. In the Summer they don’t always take any bedding in. The ones here haven’t this year. So it probably is a good idea to clean them out in case.
It sounds as if the habitat there is lovely for hogs. These things can happen in cycles. It can depend a lot on what is happening elsewhere. i.e. if there are lots of other good habitat areas around, who else is feeding, etc. I used to get a lot of females visiting but the couple of years before this I had mostly males visiting. The changes in how ranges overlap might influence that. But I didn’t have any hoglets at all for about 2 years. This year I have seen a few, but not regularly, although most visitors are still males. So don’t worry. You never know when things will change. I’m hopeful that the pendulum is beginning to swing back the other way, here.
But keep a look out for hoglets into the winter. Sometimes people stop feeding a bit early and the hoglets might need to look elsewhere. But also as they get older, their ranges gradually extend, so you never known when some might turn up.
Good luck. Hope you get some tenants in your houses. Don’t forget they move nests during hibernation time, so if they don’t use your houses to start with, they might provide a welcome place for a later nest.
