Plotting out the baffles, this is what'll be built onto either side of the feeding station leading up to the doors.

Cats cannot duck *and* take tight turns at the same time. The tighter the turn, the harder it is, they need to be able to pull themselves through. So here the roof is low enough a cat can't do that, narrow enough it can't manoeuvre , and it it would have to duck further on the main bend

The entrances would also be facing a wall so that's another 90 degree turn to get in it.

These are the kinds of baffles I've always wanted to put on them but, well, that's rather a lot of construction

In the event anyone is thoroughly invested in all of this and has a spare fiver they'd like to put towards the renovations, I have a tip jar on my website  http://wagtails.art

(It's safe for work, don't worry! )

Marine hinges and hasps for the roof flaps, I've seen the state store bought hedgehog boxes get into and we're bypassing that thank you very much!

If this damn thing is going to last 15 years it won't be let down by a bloody hinge.
Silicone and fibreglass sheet to cover the flaps too, and hdpe blocks to keep it well off the ground

Honestly at this point I'm looking forward to getting my studio back. It's had a giant dust sheet and cardboard laid out on it got 2 weeks covered in wood at various stages of painting.

I like to start a project, do the project to completion, and then rest. A project like redecorating these would ordinarily be 2 days. I do not have the patience for all this waiting for things to dry stuff (and with 6+ layers to put on its a lot of waiting)

The last few paintings done, each about 3cm

A portrait of Egg, a vase of flowers, a horse because paintings of horses are always fancy and high class, and the hedgehogs' very own original kandinsky

A little over 2 weeks later and the Igel's Nest (hedgehog nesting box) is finished!

Undercoated in mold resistant stain blocking paint, made fully waterproof by 2-3 layers of enamel based paint, topped off with an acrylic based paint for colour and then covered with a few layers of polyvine varnish. This thing should now outlive me!

With a solid resin floor it also makes it easy to keep clean and won't be attractive to woodlice.

Just a tiny bit overkill but at least i won't have to worry about a hedgehog moving in and deciding it's also his toilet anymore.

Cleaning that when it's porous wood, not a fun experience.

The Urch Inn (main hedgehog feeding station) so far, before the baffles are added, resin floor poured, and roof put on.

With the baffles now moved from inside to outside, there's now considerably more space than there used to be

A small detail but important one: screws.
Even if you buy expensive ones that say they won't rust, they still might rust. In any outdoor project it's always a sticking point.

I'm mainly using timber wolf which is fine, but the small ones are an unknown and will be exposed to the rain, and in a place that'll pool. My go to for such things? Nail lacquer.

Very hard wearing, sticks like shit, and absolutely won't come off unless you want it to.

I'm leaving it indoors a few more days to be certain the epoxy is alright and then it'll be put out and the roof put on it. I'll get some all pics when it's in place and set up

A platform was set up out in the woods today for the Igel's Nest to rest on, so that's now all set up and good to go.

Normally whenever I do anything with the hedgehog houses I get a 'THAT WON'T STOP A CAT!' guy turn up to be wrong at me

This time I actually designed the entrances myself, based around my understanding of cat anatomy which I only learned to stop them getting in the damn hedgehog houses. I am perfectly placed to 'well, actually...' and not a single such guy has emerged.

I am both thrilled we have moved past it but gutted for my unaired prepared argument

To just go ahead and explain it anyway:

Cats have certain options when it comes to getting through small spaces.
For the most part they can duck through a small entrance, but need space the other side of the entrance to pull themselves through. A very low tunnel is impossible for many cats for this reason, they can't get purchase to pull their body as there's no height available for it.

Bends present a similar challenge because they physically cannot duck AND bend around a sharp corner at the same time. ducking is an entirely forward motion

The original baffles were two 90 degree turns, but where they went wrong is they were too wide (around 15cm) and with a high ceiling behind the entrance (about 20cm), giving cats a chance to pull their body into the space of the baffle, like an entrance hall

The ones in the pictures above, the ceiling is the same height as the entrance all the way through (11-12cm) and requires a 180 degree turn with that low ceiling. It is essentially a winding tunnel, making it about as cat proof as it gets whiles till allowing wildlife.

You could use a wide boar u-bend pipe and have the same effect

While I was doing all the original trial and error with cat proofing and learning all of this a few years ago I figured out there's an extremely simple baffle you can use that's extremely effective, owing to a cat's inability to turn in a duck. Far simpler than a u-bend.

A stick.

Before building any baffles, I just put a stick just inside the door of the hedgehog feeders. Just sticking up out of the ground.

A cat needs to be able to pull itself through the gap, so must get part of its body through to get a foothold, so it needs a clear space beyond the entrance.
A stick a few cm in stopped it being able to do that, but also meant in order to get in it would have to duck and turn to avoid the stick.

WE'RE FINISHED!

The Urch Inn is now fully renovated, placed, plugged in and ready to start serving the local hedgehog population!