GILL LUCRAFT: In the last 20 years, we have
been killing them by the thousand, and the more we can do to help them, the better.
COMM: Hidden inside this cozy cottage is a
hospital that rescues over 700 hedgehogs a year. Web developer Gill Lucraft started
Hedgehog Bottom 10 years ago after she found an injured hedgehog in her garden.
GILL LUCRAFT: We looked after this little
one right the way through the winter and in the spring it came out and I was absolutely
delighted. We called him Speedy Gonzales. And it all started from there. Six months
later there was a tiny baby one came out during the day and collapsed on my foot in heat,
and we whipped him off to another rescue and then we decided we could probably do it ourselves.
So, that’s pretty much how Hedgehog Bottom started.
COMM: The numbers soon shot up until the hedgehogs
took over her house.
GILL LUCRAFT: The first year that we started
this, we took in three over the winter. The following year, we had six and then it went
up to 18 and then after that it just went through the roof.
COMM: Gill treats everything from mange to
horrific strimmer injuries with the help of volunteers and her local vet. They also hand
feed babies every two hours during hoglet season. Domestic hedgehogs are released back
into the wild once they’ve recovered, but Gill also has some more exotic residents.
GILL LUCRAFT: This is African pygmy hedgehog
that has been dumped as a pet. They can’t be released into the wild because they would
die. So, they are permanently in cages and in order to get enough exercise, they are
given a large rat wheel to run on every night. The problem with that is hedgehogs are notorious
for pooing as they go. And so on a wheel, it’s catching poo and they just run through
it so, they get absolutely covered. And we have every now and then to clean their feet,
because they end up with ‘poo boots’ and in fact this little one hasn’t got any
poo boots but he has got, managed to get spread all up his leg. Here we go, mate. As you can
see that they’re not over delighted.
GILL LUCRAFT: Here we go. There, there, that’s better, isn’t it?
COMM: Her volunteers are familiar with the
mess hedgehogs can get into.
AARON DOY: Different hedgehogs will need different
food requirements and we had one that had a wet food requirement, didn’t get on with
the biscuits. And every day she would use her food tray as part of a running track around
the place, so wet food which has been tramped around the entire place, and wet food tramped
around, that smells quick. That was not a pleasant cage to clean out each time.
COMM: And stray fingers must be kept away
from one of Hedgehog Bottom’s permanent residents.
GILL LUCRAFT: This is Milli and she is a desert
hog. We’re not sure if she is actually an Egyptian desert hog or she is Algerian or
one of those. But she is certainly not native to this country. She’s been with us for
about a year now and she is probably the most vicious animal on the planet. You just don’t
get near her teeth at all. One of the big things working with her is make sure that
your hands are always well away from the front end.
COMM: With hedgehog populations declining, Gill hopes to expand.
GILL LUCRAFT: They are not currently on the
Endangered Species List, but they are severe decline. And the more we can do to help them, the better.
COMM: But she has words of caution for anyone
else thinking of setting up their own hedgehog rescue.
GILL LUCRAFT: The first thing I will say…
don’t. Don’t! It’s a slippery slope. You start off with one and then you lose your life completely.
GILL LUCRAFT: Basically the first thing you
need to do is find another rescue that’s willing to work with you. Because if you just
start up by yourself, what tends to happen is you find that you’re taking in animals
and wasting a hell of a lot of money and resources while you learn the ropes.
GILL LUCRAFT: I would say 95% of the people
who bring them in are just completely naturally smitten with them, because they didn’t realise
just how darn cute they are. They are amazing creatures and there is nothing else like them on the planet.