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Original poster

Neighbour has blocked hedgehog holes in the garden?

144 replies

staceyslatericeskater · 02/10/2025 00:14

My next door neighbour has blocked the hedgehog holes on our shared fence.

The holes were already there when we moved in which was done by the housing developer.

My cat was pooing in her garden and roaming there and from what I understand she didn’t want her toddlers stepping on the cat poo.

Is this even legal?

OP posts:
godmum56 · 02/10/2025 10:50

I have got a tortoise. I have to keep holes in the fence blocked because I don't want her leaving my garden. Every day she is awake and outside, I patrol the fence (which I don't own) to make sure that there are no gaps and I block any I find. I still have a lively population of hedgehogs in my garden (seen on webcam).

Doveyouknow · 02/10/2025 10:51

My neighbour has done this - I don't think you can do much about it. In his case it's because the foxes were using it to come into his garden. I don't have the heart to tell him they are perfectly able to climb the fence...

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/10/2025 10:52

Kimbap · 02/10/2025 00:19

Cat poo is disgusting. I’d have done the same as your neighbour. I’m not a lawyer but I can’t think of any way it could be illegal.

Cats don't need hedgehog holes they can get over the fence

Baital · 02/10/2025 10:59

I don't want cat shit in my garden either, and i don't have a toddler.

Or fox or hedgehog shit, but they are wild animals so no-one has any responsibility for them.

Yes, cats have the right to roam legally - but that doesn't mean people shouldn't be annoyed about it. You seem very relaxed about the problem your cat is causing your neighbour.

millymae · 02/10/2025 11:08

Whoever said above that cats bury their poo is surely living in a dream world. The ones that poo in my garden don’t. Its just left on top of the soil.
I am not a cat lover - to me they are horrible sly creatures and I can’t for the life of me see why anyone would want one as pet and leave it to roam outside for the majority of time. The cynic in me thinks it’s because they are relatively easy pets and that as a cat owner you get the benefits of owning a pet without the inconvenience of having to deal with poo. That’s a job for someone else and often people like me who don’t own one.
That said I could never block up the hedgehog holes we have in our fence and in our back gate to try and stop the cats pooing as we put food and water out for them every night and have regular visitors. Last night the first hedgehog arrived at 8.00pm

The hole in the fence is between us and our neighbour behind who owns 3 cats. They are backwards and forwards through it all day every day and yes they poo in our garden. When we see them do it we lob it back over.
At one time we took to blocking the hole in the day to try and deter them coming through but it was a pointless exercise as they could climb up and over the fence anyway. Similarly the back gate.
The 3 cats from behind are not our only cat visitors either - our next door neighbour has 2 and the only way they can access her back garden when they are let out is through the hedgehog hole in our back gate then through a small gap in the hedge between us. And yes they poo in our garden too because her garden is all hard surfaces.
i have every sympathy with OP’s neighbour but we all have to do our bit to help hedgehogs.

NewPlumSloth · 02/10/2025 11:15

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 02/10/2025 10:25

My biggest wish is that rules are brought in one day that stops cat owners allowing their PETS off their property, either have a catio, keep them in or don’t have a cat it’s that simple, I don’t have cats or dogs because I don’t want to deal with 💩 so don’t want to have to deal with it from other people’s selfish choices

those same owners twine when their cat gets run over or hurt, just seen a post on my local Facebook page calling a driver a very unsavoury word for not stopping after hitting their cat, I couldn’t muster up the 💩 to give because it was their choice to let their beloved pet out in the first place

@AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii
Someone has had an empathy bypass. If fit and well then cats, for welfare reasons, should have the option to freely go out and return during the day (just like dogs are exercised), though I personally think cats should be kept in at night. However, for all you know:

  1. The cat was an indoor cat and accidentally got out. Accidents happen.
  2. The cat was chased by a dog (because the dog was off lead and the owner had no control over their dog) which led the cat to the road in panic. The cat may otherwise have never been near a road.
  3. The cat had no home and was a stray cat; either because owners moved or another reason.
  4. The van driver may have been SPEEDING or distracted and the accident could have been avoided.

If you do not want pets that is fine but that shouldn’t mean someone else cannot be upset that their pet has been injured. Let us hope nothing heartbreaking happens to you, as by your logic if it isn’t something one cares about then people should not show empathy or support to others. Good grief.

AOIFEmissingUalways · 02/10/2025 11:20

staceyslatericeskater · 02/10/2025 10:03

As PP mentions the hedgehog holes were part of a convent taken these houses were first built a few years ago as this is semi rural area.

Yes the neighbour is aware they are hedgehog holes and she basically says she dosent want to be clearing any kind of animal poo in her garden as her kids play there.

She did mention to me that she does like cats and has owned some in the past but she just doesn’t want them in her garden because of her kids and the pooing which is understandable.

She has put those black prickly things on the tops of the gates so my cat doesn’t really bother now (her words).

Good for her! ^^^^

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 02/10/2025 11:22

Nothing to do with empathy bypass but the complete and utter feeling of being fed up with other people’s selfish choices, I feel Exactly the same about people who don’t look after their dogs properly and feel far too may irresponsible people own them as well

my annoyance was more about the way these people talk about drivers hitting their supposedly precious pet and not taking responsibility for the fact they made the choice to let their cat roam because let’s be honest very few people have house cats that just got out by accident

WIcurious · 02/10/2025 11:29

I will never understand why people let their animals out to cause a nuisance to everybody else + be at risk then whine about it.

Every local fb group in the uk is awash with posts about missing cats, run over cats, cats that someone has found and fed etc etc etc. All these problems could be solved in one fell swoop if they were kept in their homes. These people claim to love their animals but will neither protect them nor take responsibility for them. Madness!!

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 02/10/2025 11:30

WIcurious · 02/10/2025 11:29

I will never understand why people let their animals out to cause a nuisance to everybody else + be at risk then whine about it.

Every local fb group in the uk is awash with posts about missing cats, run over cats, cats that someone has found and fed etc etc etc. All these problems could be solved in one fell swoop if they were kept in their homes. These people claim to love their animals but will neither protect them nor take responsibility for them. Madness!!

Be careful you’ll be accused of having an empathy bypass we well 🙄

5foot5 · 02/10/2025 11:51

Vitriolinsanity · 02/10/2025 10:42

But that looks exactly like my cat’s poo, or my mum’s wee terrier’s.

Show quote history

Despite having cats growing up and now being the proud GM of a gorgeous cat, I honestly couldn't claim to be an expert on cat poo.

The cats we had when I was growing up always, always buried theirs, AFAIK in our own garden. My DD's handsome boy is strictly an indoor cat and uses a litter tray but, again, he always buries what he has done. I have emptied his tray several times when he comes to stay with us and the deposits are so well disguised by the time you scoop them out that it's hard to know what they would have originally looked like. My feeling is they are a different shape and rather bigger than the hedgehog poo.

Incidentally the hedgehogs do just leave them where they land, I often encounter them on our lawn since making a tunnel.

Baital · 02/10/2025 11:51

Given the choice DDog would roam around,
scavenging. She doesn't get the choice, she is limited to our property, and walked daily - on a lead because her recall isn't consistent (because she is an ex-stray who learnt to scavenge food, and wants to go in search of food).

I pick up her crap, whether in our garden or out and about. Because pet owners should clean up after their pet.

I think the law needs to change re: cats. They are a significant predator on wild birds, as well as often being an anti social problem for neighbours.

LittleAlexHornesPocket · 02/10/2025 11:56

Ruggerlass · 02/10/2025 08:17

Cat’s bury their poo so if her toddlers are stepping on poo it’s more likely to be hedgehog poo which does look similar to cat poo. I’d explain this to her and reopen the hole. Her closing the hole is not going to stop your cat which in any case has the legal right to roam. My cat thinks nothing of jumping climbing over 6’ high fences. He has a litter test but won’t use it.

For the love of god why does this nonsense keep getting repeated?

Some cats bury their poo. Many do not bother.

Hedgehog poo looks nothing like cat poo.

KoalaKoKo · 02/10/2025 12:04

Cats are supposed to bury their poo but if they’re taken from their mum too young or their mum was taken too young they don’t get taught. I had a cat once who didn’t know how to do it because she was dumped as a kitten so every time she pooed in the litter box and didn’t cover it I took her back and got her to watch me covering it with the shovel, after a week she got it!

I completely disagree with covering hedgehog holes though as they are endangered. The hedgehogs poo in my garden and we just clean it up, we need wildlife!

lanthanum · 02/10/2025 12:10

staceyslatericeskater · 02/10/2025 09:04

The cat goes by her back kitchen door and poo’s in the gravel on the side by the front door.

She has seen the cat do it as well and apparently would shoo it off.

Basically she just dosent want cats roaming in her garden.

And that makes it all right?

GloryFades · 02/10/2025 12:10

Ruggerlass · 02/10/2025 08:17

Cat’s bury their poo so if her toddlers are stepping on poo it’s more likely to be hedgehog poo which does look similar to cat poo. I’d explain this to her and reopen the hole. Her closing the hole is not going to stop your cat which in any case has the legal right to roam. My cat thinks nothing of jumping climbing over 6’ high fences. He has a litter test but won’t use it.

Absolutely not, I have seen the neighbours cat poo in my garden and half heartedly attempt to cover it but it was still there plain as day for anyone to step in, pick up or (in the case of my dog) eat.

But you can’t have a roaming cat and pretend to care so much about wildlife you’re fighting to preserve hedgehog holes. Your cat will almost certainly be killing birds and mice etc, and while it would be nice to save the hedgehogs it’s a bit hypocritical to make out your neighbour has done something abhorrent.

Notagain75 · 02/10/2025 12:16

Why wouldn't it be legal?

Notagain75 · 02/10/2025 12:19

Ruggerlass · 02/10/2025 08:17

Cat’s bury their poo so if her toddlers are stepping on poo it’s more likely to be hedgehog poo which does look similar to cat poo. I’d explain this to her and reopen the hole. Her closing the hole is not going to stop your cat which in any case has the legal right to roam. My cat thinks nothing of jumping climbing over 6’ high fences. He has a litter test but won’t use it.

A lot of people say this. Mainly cat owners. Bur it's just not true.
At least the cats I have seen pooing in my garden aren't aware of that rule as they don't bury it. They leave it lying on top of the flower beds

Notagain75 · 02/10/2025 12:22

staceyslatericeskater · 02/10/2025 09:04

The cat goes by her back kitchen door and poo’s in the gravel on the side by the front door.

She has seen the cat do it as well and apparently would shoo it off.

Basically she just dosent want cats roaming in her garden.

And who can blame her?
That sounds disgusting

HeartyStork · 02/10/2025 13:11

Ruggerlass · 02/10/2025 08:17

Cat’s bury their poo so if her toddlers are stepping on poo it’s more likely to be hedgehog poo which does look similar to cat poo. I’d explain this to her and reopen the hole. Her closing the hole is not going to stop your cat which in any case has the legal right to roam. My cat thinks nothing of jumping climbing over 6’ high fences. He has a litter test but won’t use it.

Our next door neighbours cats don't bury there poo, and they use our garden like a free for all.

Easterchicken · 02/10/2025 13:21

staceyslatericeskater · 02/10/2025 09:04

The cat goes by her back kitchen door and poo’s in the gravel on the side by the front door.

She has seen the cat do it as well and apparently would shoo it off.

Basically she just dosent want cats roaming in her garden.

I don't blame her not wanting cats in her garden

Their poo is gross

Why don't you have a tray for you cat to use or keep it in till it's learned where to do it's business

Snugglemonkey · 02/10/2025 13:46

Keep your cat in. Problem solved.

MaryBeardsShoes · 02/10/2025 13:48

Fucksake. Sort your cat out. Nasty!

SchrodingersParrot · 02/10/2025 13:48

I don't think there's much point in trying to get the cat to do its business in its own garden. As I understand it, cats don't foul their own territory.

I'm definitely Team Hedgehog. We used to put out food for the local hedgehogs, but had to stop because the food was being eaten by a neighbour's cat.

Americasfavouritefightingfrenchman · 02/10/2025 13:50

Cats from various neighbours regularly poo on our lawn. It’s pretty disgusting to clean up. The cats themselves are nice enough but having them roam freely in largely urban areas does mean they are at risk of being hit by a car and that they will end up leaving their horrid deposits with various neighbours. I squirt our neighbour’s cats with a water pistol whenever I see them in the garden and it has put some of them off. I know he doesn’t like it but honestly I’ve reached point where I feel disinclined to worry about what he likes since he clearly doesn’t care.