Why can't it be like Bogor?

I'm relieved to say that Hedgie is not trapped in the compost bin. I went out with the torch one dark night - hedgehogs are nocturnal - to discover her gone.
Had she been coming and going freely all along? Or had my intrusion with the camera driven her away?
I fretted. I checked the bin over and over. I felt responsible for her departure. Then, two days later she was back - snuggled under some spinach leaves.
I still can't see how she gets in and out but she does.


I was reminded of this New Zealand cartoon strip by Burton Silver, first published in the 1970s about a woodsman called Bogor who befriends a nameless hedgehog.

It's nice to know a hedgehog has taken up residence in the garden. And it would be amazing to be like Bogor and keep her as an almost-pet. But she's best left alone.

Adventures with Hedgehog

This cute hedgehog has been living in our compost bin for several weeks now. Always she or he would be curled up in the corner. I thought s/he was hibernating - do hedgehogs hibernate? - and we were being careful not to smother her. But tonight I when I visited she was up wandering around on the vegetable scraps. And not too bothered that I was peering in with my camera.

The bin is one of those upright plastic ones with a lid. And I can't work out how she got in. The air vents are too small even for a small hedgehog. There is no obvious entry point. The question is: how will she get out? Is she trapped in there waiting to be rescued? Or has she found a really good place to hang out until spring?