Spikes sanctuary hedgehog rescue came into being in September 2007.

It all started when my husband brought home a hedgehog home from work which he had found out in the day.  We knew that hedgehogs should not be out in the day light as they were nocturnal but that was about all we knew.  We took Spike, as the little one became known along to the vet and they suggested we hold on to him for a day or two to see how he got on.  We converted our rabbit run into temporary home for Spike, we discovered after the first night that he had not eaten and when we checked on him he was still breathing but cold to touch, sadly Spike died a short time after.

We all felt terribly sad, having always been interested in wildlife and hedgehogs in particular,  I decided I wanted to learn more about how to care for a sick hedgehog and what was needed to do so.  It was at this point I discovered that Spikes death might well have been caused not just by our own inexperience but by also the inexperience of our vet in treating hedgehogs.  Spike was very underweight and should have been kept somewhere warm until his weight was nearer 400g as it was we put him outside when he weighed less than 300g in early April when the poor thing was clearly struggling after coming out of hibernation.  This is one mistake I have learnt from!

It was not long before my husband came across another out in the day hog in need of help, thankfully we were better organised, I had done a lot of research into the treatment and care of sick and injured hedgehogs, I had searched websites, got in touch with both the BHPS (British Hedgehog Preservation Society) and St Tiggywinkles both were kind enough to send me out information packs and I even bought the book!!!

We have not looked back since, in the last year alone we have cared for nearly fifty hedgehogs most of which have been re-released successfully back into the wild, sadly some hedgehogs who arrive here won’t make it, some are to badly injured and the vet had to put them to sleep to end their suffering. Occasionally one will come along who can’t be released due to disability and for those hedgehogs secure gardens are found.

We take in hedgehogs from Peebles and surrounding areas and I have advised by phone about the care of hedgehogs all over the Scottish Borders.  We provide care, veterinary treatment and rehabilitation for sick injured and orphaned hedgehogs.  I also write articles for local papers and provide educational visits to try and raise awareness to the hedgehog’s plight. 

Fundraising is carried out on a regular basis to cover the costs of looking after all these hedgehogs; we have had coffee mornings twice in the last year and also circulated two fun wildlife quizzes.  We are also very grateful to those kind enough to make a donation.