Hedgehog SOS was hurriedly established in October 2006 by myself (Sheila Boden) and husband Dave. We are located between Wolverhampton and Walsall in the West Midlands.

 A few years ago I looked after a rescued hedgehog until it reached maturity and so had gained some knowledge and experience in this field. Having retired in April 2006, I had given some thought to returning to this work as a hobby. I reponded to an editorial comment in a local newspaper concerning the dangers to hedgehogs, on and around Bonfire Night. Following the publication of my reply, we were immediately inundated with telephone calls; some wanting advice on feeding and attracting hedgehogs to their garden, some expecting me to provide 'slug eaters' for their garden, (which I am not prepared to do!), whilst others were emergency calls where people had discovered hedgehogs wandering in daylight or in a state of collapse. We were totally unprepared for the volume of calls. Our garden shed had seen better days and afforded no protection for rescued hedgehogs against the expected harsh Winter months.

"Betty" was our first rescue, found collapsed on a frosty morning in October and was soon followed by "Mel" who was in a very poor condition and was not expected to survive the night. My vague 'ponderings' about hedgehog recue work had suddenly become a reality. Consequently these two small hedgehogs were housed seperately, in large cardboard boxes, in our living room! We soon realised that the situation was less than ideal. We therefore purchased two large rabbit hutches and as we had just started to redecorate our spare bedroom, decided to utilise this area as a temporary hospital to house these juveniles until we could buy and erect a new purpose built shed. As these hedgehogs weighed very little they would need to over-winter in warm conditions and hopefully be released back to the wild in the Spring. This was an accidental and chaotic start to our rescue work. However, now the shed has been replaced, we are able to provide warm and comfortable accommodation for upto 10 hedgehogs.... more at a push! Life with the hedgehogs, (out of the house), has become easier and we have established a daily routine. The shed is proving to be a successful hospital and we are gradually adding new equipment, lotions and potions, as the need arises and finances allow. We have discovered that caring for hedgehogs is very time consuming but is a job that we both enjoy. "Betty" is pictured above.