Ludlow hedgehog charity needs a spike in help

Pricklebums Hedgehog Rescue is run by Ailie Hill with the support of a small team of volunteers.

Since starting up Pricklebums five years ago, the former special needs teaching assistant has devoted her time to helping as many injured, ill and orphaned hedgehogs as possible.

After helping around 50 in her first year, she now takes in up to 300 a year and this summer found her custom-built shed and overflow hutches full to capacity.

The charity is funded entirely through public donations and more money and volunteers are desperately needed to enable Ailie to help even more of the spiky creatures.

It all started when Ailie found a hedgehog trapped in a cattle grid and nursed it back to health.

She then undertook a hedgehog first aid and rehabilitation course at the Vale Wildlife Hospital in Gloucestershire before setting up her own rescue centre at her former home in Pipe Aston. She later relocated to Ludlow town centre, where the charity is now based.

"It has taken over my life," she said.

"The babies have to be hand-reared on puppy milk and they need feeding every two to three hours at first.

"It is like having a new baby."

And now Ailie knows how complex taking care of sick hedgehogs can be, taking them into your own home is something she discourages.

She said: "I found out very quickly that it's not a simple task.

"Hedgehogs are extremely complicated to look after because of all the underlying conditions they can have.

"Every hedgehog that comes in has to be assessed and a care plan has to be written for them.

"First aid is the main thing when they come in, and then fluid injections to rehydrate them.

"When they are ill they can't maintain their body temperature. You can't start any medication or even feed them until you heat them up.

"Then you have to check their poo under the microscope to see what parasites they are carrying.

"Even if they have come in for an injury and we have treated the injury, we need to check that too as worms will multiply while they are in captivity.

"Ludlow seems to have a high amount of cases of intestinal fluke, and they can also have roundworm, longworm, and any number of bacterial infections."

One they are over the worst of their injuries or illness, the hedgehogs go out to volunteer foster carers until they are strong enough to be released.

All hedgehogs which come into Pricklebums are also microchipped so their medical history can be found if they are re-admitted.

"Occasionally we do get the same ones coming back," said Ailie.

"Some are just particularly accident-prone."

The most common injuries hedgehogs tend to suffer are from being hit by cars, attacked by dogs and caught by garden strimmers.

Ailie is keen to encourage people to take simple steps to avoid accidentally harming hedgehogs in these ways, and she is also urging people to make their gardens more hedgehog-friendly, by leaving out water and cat or dog food to reduce the number of cases of malnourishment.

Her hedgehog shed, built by the Posh Shed Company in Kington at a reduced price, resembles the inside of an ambulance with its medicine cabinets, oxygen tanks and boxes of supplies.

There is also a surgical table, which is used by vets when they come over to treat the hedgehogs.

Some of the specialist equipment was funded by a £4,000 grant from Tesco Bags of Help, and Pricklebums is this year benefitting from being one of the mayor's chosen charities.

Ailie's long-term goal is to open a purpose-built rescue centre, but for now more money is needed to cover the day-to-day running costs of medication, food and electricity. She also wants to buy an ultrasound scanner to assess whether hedgehogs are pregnant.

She said: "Hedgehogs are doing better in urban environments because people put food out for them and they are safe from badgers and things, but there is the greater risk of garden accidents and being hit by cars.

"There are a few areas in Ludlow where hedgehogs are knocked on the roads and we are encouraging people to put signs up in there areas warning drivers that hedgehogs might be crossing.

"We want Ludlow to be a hedgehog-friendly town."