Hedgehog house recommendation, and foxes

I would love to put a hedgehog house in my garden, does anyone have any recommendations for a good one or what I should be looking out for?

Also we have a couple of foxes in the area- is there any danger of the foxes attacking the hedgehogs in the hedgehog house, or being attracted by the food in there and getting inside the hedgehog house?

Many thanks.

 

Are you looking for a house just to put food in rather than a hibernation box ?
A food box needs to have an access cut in it and the food placed far enough inside to stop cats and foxes being able to drag out the food bowl. You can also construct a form of tunnel to the entrance hole tp prevent others reaching the food.
There are several Hedgehog threads on here which would help you - @AnniD also knows about these animals.

 

I found this helpful: How to make a hedgehog house | Natural History Museum

I wouldn’t be worried about foxes if so then more about cats.
Hedgehogs have a natural protection. Once you hold one in your hands, then you learn quickly

 

If you're talking about a hedgehog house as opposed to a feeding station, the main criteria I would say is to have it sited in a quiet corner of the garden, in a shady location.
There is so much information online, the BHPS have a design that they recommend if you can make it yourself or know someone who's handy with wood (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
Hedgehog Homes

They also recommend this one and you can buy it from the online shop (note the curved entrance tunnel).
Hedgehog Home

You can put food in to tempt them inside, but hedgehogs prefer to have separate eating and sleeping places, so it's always best to have separate locations for these.

The problem with the hedgehog houses that you tend to see in garden centres is that they have wide entrances which make it easy for foxes, cats and rats to get in.

Personally I would never recommend something like this.

Dome Hedgehog House | Perfect Shelter for Hedgehogs - Ark Wildlife

Whereas this is much better.
How to build a hedgehog home | The Wildlife Trusts!

Although the main predator of hedgehogs (that does serious damage) is the badger, cats, foxes and dogs can also cause injury and of course stress.

Bear in mind that it may take quite a while for a hedgehog to find your new home, also they won't use it every night.
Hope this helps .

 

Thanks very much Philippa and simone_in_wiltshire and AnniD!

I think I would like to do the hibernation/home first. If in the future I also did a feeding station I think I read that I need to place it some distance from the hibernation home to keep any food smells and therefore possible predators away from the hibernation area.

I have an area that is between the fence and trunks of trees and the rear side of the shed, where there is a wedge shape where leaves gather. It is definitely dark and shady there. I hope this would be a good spot.

As well as foxes, there are many curious cats around my garden (I don't have cats so it's neighbourhood cats). Luckily no dogs can get in, and I've never seen a badger in it. There is a dog next door that barks sometimes, and it would sometimes bark near the hedgehog home from the other side of the fence. I hope that wouldn't upset the hedgehogs.

I like the idea of making a hibernation box, but possibly/probably I will end up buying one if making one is too difficult.

Many thanks for your links for box examples AnniD.

I like the look of this hibernation box you linked.
Hedgehog Home

I am thinking they would be safe from cats and foxes in there. That if a cat or small fox decided to go in, if they found a hedgehog they would encounter prickles and quickly leave.

From what I understand, the hedgehogs sleep there in the day and come out at night, and then sometimes decide to also stay in there hibernating over winter.

If this house/garden were to be sold to new owners (and I was not in a position to communciate with them), I wonder if it's best to leave the hedgehog house there or to remove it when it's empty/off-season before the house/garden is sold. On the one hand, I would love to have a hedgehog house established for the new owners of the house and would hope they would carry on maintaining it ... but then I also would worry, what if the new owners didn't care about nature and they found the box, opened/moved it, and disturbed hibernating hedgehogs in it.

 

From your description, the location sounds perfect, similar to the one where my hedgehog house is situated.

Assuming you went for the hedgehog house in the link, or a similar design with a zig zag entrance, it would be difficult for a cat or fox to get in, they'd have to be really determined.
I'm not saying it's impossible because I've seen it done, but that was a feeding station so clearly it was the smell of the food that was acting as a magnet.

Worst case scenario and there was a mother with hoglets inside and they were disturbed, she could either abandon the babies or move them to another location (this can happen in broad daylight). You might them hear them crying for Mum, which would mean a phone call to your local rescue or to the BHPS for advice.
However, this all assumes that a hedgehog takes up residence in the first place .

I have foxes in my garden and in my experience they tend to be curious more than anything. A foxy nose coming into contact with a sharp spiky object tends to result in retreat.

You are quite right, hedgehogs would be in there during daylight and come out at night, or even before dusk in high Summer.
They would hibernate during the Winter, but research has shown that during the milder Winters we get nowadays, they might not hibernate at all, or only for very short periods during the colder spells.

If you want to see if you get any spiky visitors I would go ahead. They need all the help they can get.
If your house is sold, you could carefully check to see if there is any sign of a hedgehog taking up residence in the hedgehog one (even if the house is empty, you will be able to tell).

If no sign, you could either take the house with you to your new home, or if you have a neighbour in close proximity with a suitable location you could ask if they'd like it.

If there is a resident and you're not sure how interested the new owners will be, personally I would leave a note somewhere giving the location of the hedgehog house and maybe a few notes on care/maintenance, together with a contact number of a local rescue if they'd like more advice. Emphasise the need to leave it undisturbed,and then you've done all you can .

 

I had a number of Hedgehogs in my previous garden - they bred and had access to 2 further gardens in which the owners were also interested in preserving and helping them. When I sold the property I asked the new owners if they were interested in continuing with the hogs. They replied in the affirmative and so I left the Feeding station along with instructions, food bowls and a pack of food and simply had to hope they would keep it up. If no verbal contact it could be hit and miss. There is little more you can do when you move house.
As @AnniD says, relatively milder winters can disrupt hibernation periods so something to be aware of. Making sure you also provide a suitable water source is important too. Ponds can be dangerous unless you ensure easy exit points.
Very best of luck in your endeavours - our wildlife needs all the help we can give it .

 

Thank you so much AnniD, this answers everything so well! I love the thought that if a foxy nose started going in, it would quickly retreat when met with prickles .

 

Philippa that is wonderful that your hedgehogs bred and had extra space, and that the new owners wanted to carry on looking after them. How amazing to have hoglets!

I want to do all I can for our wildlife and I just love hedgehogs so much.

I don't have a pond, so that's good, but there isn't any water source in my garden. I wonder what kind of water source would be good, maybe a self-sustaining rainwater-fed system could work and be maintenance free for future owners, I don't know if something like that exists. Though on second thoughts maybe not as if it wasn't cleaned out it could become a problem maybe. I have lots of snails and slugs for food for them which is good (and good for me if they eat them!) and keep a weedkiller-free garden.

Maybe a feeding station is a good idea as well, if I'm having the hiberation house, so they have a ready source of food in the same garden. I could put it at the other back corner of the garden, so there would be the shed and quite a few trees/space between it and the hibernation house.

I've also planned if I move house that I'll leave the squirrel-proof bird feeding stations and sacks of the food that works with those feeders. This year I've had all sorts coming to feed and bringing their young.

 

Just a few water bowls around the garden will be fine. I use pot saucers or a dog bowl.
Just make sure they're kept clean and topped up. Obviously this weather the more the better, but even in Winter I make sure there's at least one, kept ice free if necessary.
I'm not sure if the system you're thinking of would add much value to the property when you came to sell, but I'm willing to stand corrected .

 

Thank you, bowls sound good! I was just thinking aloud in case the new owners didn't want to put the effort in, I wasn't thinking of house value, just wanted to make sure the hedgehogs still get the water even if the new owners weren't filling up bowls. But bowls will work great and the traditional way is usually best . That reminds me, I ought to start now putting out a bowl of water in the evening for any passing wildlife, it has been so hot and dry.

 

In my box i had a zig zag tunnel and a cat would get in + also a very young (small) fox

 

Hello Jiffy thank you for those pictures! I wonder if it's just curiosity, or if they'll just come and eat the food and leave. I hope they wouldn't disturb the hedgehogs too much, but it's not a nice experience for the hedgies ...

 

I think it's for the food as cat + fox's have a good sence of smell, also the cat goes in for the voles that use it as well

 

That makes sense, they are good at sniffing food out. Do you find it's still helpful for the hedgehogs, having the feeding station, even with the cat and fox visits?