Snuffles' Story

I am the main reason why this web site was built and why they got interested in really helping hedgehogs.

Let me tell you a little bit about me and how I persuaded them to take me in, look after me and how I am becoming a film star.

I was born in the Autumn of 2001, a survivor from a late litter. I turned up in the garden in Late November or early December, but the owners didn't know about me until Christmas time. They knew lots of food was going but they thought it was only Rowley eating the food.

One evening about 9pm, both Rowley and me were eating at the same time when one of "them" came out and saw both of us. I was quickly grabbed, picked up and looked at. That was it, I had been rescued.

I was a tiny thing barely covering the palm of your hand and weighed about 250 grammes. I was freezing and had bald patches all over my body where my spines had dropped out due to mite infestation and ringworm. I was coughing and had very bad wheezy breathing, because of my lung worms. In fact I had bad pneumonia, I caught it twice.

They took me in and made me a nice warm bed, in a cat basket in the kitchen. Gave me lots of nice food to eat and let me sleep in the warmest and nicest place I had found since I was born. I was very ill but I had been determined to survive, I had found their garden, lots of food and a sheltered house they had made in the garden for any hedgehogs to use.

(Most hedgehogs born as late in the year as this do not survive the winter as they have not got enough fat reserves to last the hibernation period, see caring page for hibernation details)

The next day I was taken to the vet. I didn't like that. He sprayed me with flea spray to get rid of the fleas, ticks and mites. and stuck a needle into me. The flea spray made me breathe worse. (We since found out it's the alcohol in the Frontline™ that affects hedgehogs breathing, see caring page for advice on this)

After weeks of treatment I started to get better.

It's now May 2002 and I still have problems and I am not ready to be released yet.

I still need to grow some more spines, but they are growing well. My main problem now is the damage the lungworms did to my lungs. They have left a lot of scars there and until they heal up, every time I get a bit cold, wet or damp, I start to cough and wheeze again.

Until then I live sometimes in the shed, where its heated and sometimes I stay in the house, where I have built a nice nest in a bedroom cupboard. I run all round the house at night and terrorise the cats. I like to creep up on them when they are asleep, rub against them, then roll up so my prickles all stick out and the cat moves away and I can use her nice warm bed instead of my own.

I like to go for a walk in the garden on a nice warm day, but I hate the cold and damp. I love sunshine and warmth. They have built me a pen in the garden so I can get some fresh air and have a little dig in the ground.

On a nice day they let me run around the bottom of the garden on the lawn and in the undergrowth. I like that but not for too long, because I need my sleep during the day and its too cold to go out at night.

Here are a few pictures of me

Here is a picture of me in my pen	Here is a short Video of me walking in the garden Click on the image to start the video (video is 10 secs long: File size 321kb) (You need Windows Media Player for this)
Here is me curled up so you can't see me	Me in the garden
In the garden again	Me getting a little annoyed and starting to curl up
Having my treatment with Tea tree cream for skin troubles	Going for a walk on the bed

Well that's enough for now, I will write some more very soon so keep watching

Lots of love

Snuffles

Snuffles was released in July 2002 and we hope he is doing well living wild in the area.