Hedgehogs are endangered in the UK and their numbers are dwindling fast, from 36 million in the 1950's to under a million today. Road traffic accidents, lack of wild gardens, the use of strimmers and garden equipment that destroys their nests and often mutilates the sleeping hedgehog, slug pellets and pesticides and a lack of access between gardens are the main culprits for their demise. By 2025 the sighting of these beautiful creatures in the UK could be rare unless we all become more hedgehog aware.
MOST HEDGEHOGS OUT DURING THE DAY NEED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS.
For further information on emergency care please click here.
For more information on when to rescue click here.
Sick hedgehogs can die very quickly without the correct treatment and the sooner they get help the better.
"Hedgehogs are quite complex and often require specialist care. We wouldn't advise that you care for it yourself."
See our emergency care information or contact us.
We were delighted to receive a grant of £500.00 from the Born Free Foundation recently. This will go a long way towards the fly screens and air conditioning which are badly needed for the Critical Care Unit.
Snuffles has similar objectives where hedgehogs are concerned, only on a very much smaller, more local scale! You can read more about Born Free projects by clicking the link to their website via the above logo.
Meet our Hedgehog super heroes!
Snuffles has received a fantastic donation of just over £300 from James and Donna Trevis. Part of the money was raised from their participation in the 2018 Sutton Fun Run – as you can see they have the medals to prove it.
Later in the year, they went that extra mile by donating the net proceeds from the bar at their wedding which they self catered.
We think you're great too James and Donna and send our heartfelt thanks to a couple of real hedgehog heroes.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal creatures and come out at night. If you see a hedgehog wandering round during the day it is likely to be sick and in need of medical attention even if it looks well.
The only exception is if a female hedgehog has had a litter of hoglets (usually June - September) and is leaving the nest during the day just for a break. Check to see if there is a nest of hoglets nearby before removing the hedgehog from where it was found. Read more.
Please call your local hedgehog rescue centre for advice and follow the emergency care guidelines. More information here.
We are getting calls from people who have found badly injured hedgehogs and they don't know what to do.
If you find a hedgehog that has serious wounds and/or is screaming in pain please follow our emergency care guidelines and take it immediately to your local vet if it is during the day or to the emergency vet if it is at night. You should not be charged as vets have a responsibility to treat for free wild animals brought to them by members of the public. Often in these severe cases the only option is to euthanase if the hedgehog is very seriously injured and in terrible suffering.
Snuffles hedgehog rescue responds as quickly as possible to calls from people in their area. The rescue is run by Claire Hunt and her partner Matt, who works full time. Often Claire is on her own caring for the sick and injured hedgehog, and if she is busy she cannot always respond immediately.
If you are unable to reach Claire and the hedgehog appears to be seriously ill or injured either contact another hedgehog rescue in the area or take the hedgehog to your nearest vet.
If you live outside our area you can follow our emergency guidelines and take the hedgehog to your local vet. You should not be charged as al vets have a responsibility to treat wild animals.
Thank you for you support with this.
Snuffles needs your help to fund the day to day running of the rescue centre.
Thanks to our generous supporters and a grant from the Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust (read more here) we were able to have a purpose built critical care unit, to replace the old, inadequate and outdated one, just over a year ago. But during the extreme summer of 2018 we realised that we need air conditioning and fly screens to keep the hedgehogs (and us!) comfortable. We raised just over £4,000 in 2018 but this only covered the cost of food and medicines. So in 2019 we are aiming for £5000 (or more) in the hope that we can improve conditions in the critical care unit. Even in a 'normal' summer air conditioning and fly screens will be of great benefit; if we have a repeat of 2018's extreme heat they will be vital!
We also have a wish list on Amazon of some items we would really appreciate receiving.
You can go direct to our Amazon Wish List Here.
Garden Release: If anyone has a walled or fully secure garden (or could fence off a section of a large garden) with bushes and shrubs suitable for a hedgehog with special needs, we would be interested in hearing from you. Please include a telephone number in the message box to enable us to contact you. Please contact us here.
Donations: You can now make cash donations via our website using PayPal or a credit card. See How You Can Help.
Food: We get through 84 tins of food each week - that's over 4300 per year! Please help us by providing food. More details and drop-off points here. See also our Current Appeal page which gives our total so far and how you can help.
Please use the link below to visit our Facebook page for regular updates on our existing hedgehogs.
Snuffles will be out and about during the year. We will be flagging up key messages about abandoned hoglets, providing food and water and raising awareness about Autumn Juveniles and hibernation. There will be our very popular hedgehog themed game "Spin it to Win it" and a public information table containing lots of interesting hedgehog information and some lovely knitted hedgehogs for sale. We would love to see as many people as possible.
Please note that we will not take any hedgehog in our care to events. While they are with us we only handle them as needed for welfare purposes and we aim to reduce exposure to stress as this can make them very unwell.
Click here for our Calendar of events to see what we will be doing to raise awareness in 2019.
If you know of any events in the Sutton Coldfield area where Snuffles Hedgehog Rescue would be welcome please complete the contact us form with details.