Hedgehog house

[lesley1954]

We have raised decking in out garden, underneath which we shovelled a load of spare builders sand, just to get it out of the way.
The other night, about half a cubic foot of this sand was pushed out from underneath.
Then we discovered distruction. A selection of plants including thyme and a lovely grass of which I was very proud were chewed through in a very efficient and orderly fashion. All the stems and foliage are gone. At fisrt sight, it looked as if someone had taken a pair of scissors to the plants but on very close inspection, tiny tooth marks can be seen.
We are assuming that this plant life was taken to the hollowed out place under the decking, to eat? to make a nest?
Access is a gap around six inches square.
We put flour in front of the access to see if it would show up signs of coming and going but there is no sign that our visitors have since been in or out.
We live in the country.
Does anyone recognise this behaviour? What could it be?

[naturelover]

i dont think its rats they make a smaller hole,i know because we have them under our decking,sounds more like a Rabbit,we did have one of those too but he seems to have mooved on,but if you say you have not seen any commings ir goings i would say he has mooved on too.

[Wild-Woman]

Set up a tray of soft damp sand in front of the hole over night and see what tracks are in it in the morning. Hopefully,you'll get a better idea of what your visitor is.

[galanthus]

Our Hedgehog chomped bits of grass off and carried them under the decking to make a nest. Right time of year and although 6 inches square doesn't sound big, ours can fit into smaller holes than you'd think.

[lesley1954]

Hmmm, some options as to what it might be are more appealing than others, of course.
The fact that there are no signs of movement take me away from the horrendous thought that we might have rats and lend weight to the theory that we have something which has caused havoc and then cleared off or something hibernating.

[sheffielder]

Sounds like a Hedgehog house to me, I have seen these signs before and it ended up being a hibinating Hedgehog.

Andrew

[Cazzie]

I don't think it's a Hedgehog. I've never known/witness hedgies moving sand/earth/soil before, leaf litter yes, but not soil etc. Also I'm not aware that they nibble vegetation either.

The sand-trap is a good idea to see the footprints Can you see the entrance from your house? Maybe worth stakeing it out if you can.

Sounds like a Rabbit to me!

[ron1863]

We had rats under our decking and they only need a very small opening to get in. We got our council to get rid of them. It sounds more like a Rabbit. We have them around us and they make short work of plants.

[epops]

we got a Hedgehog under our decking it prefers it under there to the nice snug box we provided for it lol

[Goody Grimshaw]

It may be a small rat at this time of year.We have a mystery furbie in the garden at the moment, bigger than a mouse,and a chestnut brown colour, it's rummaging in a mound we have around the bird feeding tables,which is basically made up of fallen seed,earth and vegetation ,I think it's a small rat.

[Cazzie]

Originally Posted by Goody Grimshaw

It may be a small rat at this time of year.We have a mystery furbie in the garden at the moment, bigger than a mouse,and a chestnut brown colour, it's rummaging in a mound we have around the bird feeding tables,which is basically made up of fallen seed,earth and vegetation ,I think it's a small rat.

Yours sounds like a woodmouse to me!