Sharon and Andy Longhurst’s kitchen opens onto what they call “the ICU”: a garage filled with heated incubators, microscopes and 12 hedgehogs fighting for their lives.
“Never in a million years did we expect to do this,” said Andy Longhurst.
For the past three years, the couple have transformed their home in Fife, Scotland, into a hedgehog hospital, taking in more than 622 hedgehogs, most of which have been in critical condition. The couple both have jobs — she as a school crossing guard and he as a bus driver — but once they began helping the little nocturnal creatures, they felt a sense of responsibility to them.
“We give 100 percent to every single one, even if we feel it’s not going to make it,” Sharon Longhurst said.
West European hedgehogs, native to Britain, make their homes in gardens and wooded areas. But urban development has left them “near-threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, as the population has decreased by more than 30 percent in 10 years.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s all these hedgehogs and nobody can help them,’” Sharon Longhurst said. “There needs to be more done. These poor hedgehogs are all suffering.”
The Longhursts first found themselves helping a hedgehog in 2022, when they stumbled upon one that was clearly ailing on the side of the road. They called the Scottish SPCA and were told no one could come get it. They ended up taking the animal to the SPCA wildlife center, a 50-mile round trip.
Two weeks later, they found another ill hedgehog. Once again, they brought it to the wildlife center.
“That started us thinking: People aren’t going to do this,” Sharon Longhurst said. “People aren’t going to make that journey.”
Hedgehogs appear in the daytime only if they are ill, injured or unable to find food, she said.
“If a hedgehog is wandering about in the daytime, it’s probably dying,” Sharon Longhurst said, noting that she and her husband often tell people: “A hedgehog out in the day is not okay.”
The dwindling European hedgehog population is threatened by factors including habitat loss, traffic accidents, invasive species and a lack of food. Climate change is also playing a role.
“Hedgehogs should really be hibernating in the winter, but we’re finding they’re hibernating less because they’re not getting the constant low temperature that they need,” Sharon Longhurst said. “It’s so much milder in the U.K. than it used to be.”
Hedgehogs have had a cultural moment in recent years, in part because of their adorable faces, mild nature and spiky quills. The United States does not have wild hedgehogs, though they are popular as exotic pets.
To be sure they were caring for the animals appropriately, the Longhursts got in touch with a longtime hedgehog rehabilitator in St. Andrews, who was planning to retire. He taught them the basics of hedgehog care and rehabilitation.
“We bought a lot of his equipment, and that’s how we got started in our spare room,” Sharon Longhurst said.
The couple also completed a first aid course for hedgehogs and consulted a wildlife hospital in England, as well as various rescues around Britain.
“We learned a lot,” Sharon Longhurst said.
Soon, word spread about their hedgehog rescue, which they called Burntisland Hedgehog Haven. They started with seven sick hedgehogs, but the phone kept ringing with more animals in need, especially as their rescue efforts were covered in local publications.
“We quickly found ourselves full,” Sharon Longhurst said. “People started phoning for general advice, and it snowballed from there.”
The couple initially paid for all equipment themselves but eventually reached out to the community for support. They run entirely on donations.
“We couldn’t do it without everybody’s help,” Andy Longhurst said.
“The way the community has taken hedgehogs into their hearts as well, now the awareness is out there,” said his wife. “It’s brilliant.”
As demand grew, the Longhursts secured a license to care for 25 hedgehogs, which they later expanded to 40. Now, nearly every corner of the couple’s home serves a different purpose for the rescue: The garage is for hedgehogs with hypothermia or other critical illnesses, the garden is the “maternity ward,” and the “rehabilitation shed” is for hedgehogs getting ready for release. The Longhursts are often awake throughout the night feeding orphaned hoglets.
“It’s pretty intense,” Andy Longhurst said.
The Longhursts — who have three children, ages 27, 22 and 11 — have always had pets at home, including dogs, fish, bearded dragons, rabbits and guinea pigs. They had no experience, though, caring for hedgehogs.
When each hedgehog arrives, the first thing they do is examine the animal’s feces under a microscope to check for parasites, which can be fatal if untreated. They partner with a local vet who provides medication and does X-rays and wound treatment for more complicated cases.
“You get them coming in with broken pelvises, and the poor things are just dragging themselves along,” said Sharon Longhurst.
The couple estimates that about 65 percent of the hedgehogs they treat survive.
“It is a race against time,” Sharon Longhurst said, adding that they ask the people who find the hedgehogs to give them a name.
Once a hedgehog has recovered, the Longhursts release it into the wild near where it was originally found. The animals must be a healthy weight — about 1.8 pounds — and their feces must be parasite-free.
“Our hope is that they go out, stay safe, reproduce and keep the species going,” Sharon Longhurst said.
According to the Longhursts, hedgehogs have distinct personalities.
“They’re such characters,” Sharon Longhurst said. “You get the cheeky ones; you get the ones that are quite placid, and you get the ones that are really huffy and they ball up. … Each one has got its own personality, and they are funny creatures.”
Despite hedgehogs’ prickly appearance, “some are quite soft,” Andy Longhurst said. “They’re fluffy underneath.”
The Longhursts depend on a team of 24 volunteers to keep the rescue running. They also have a growing network of drivers who live in neighboring areas — whom they call the “hogbulance.” They respond to calls at all hours to transport hedgehogs.
The Longhursts said they feel proud of the work they’ve done to save hedgehogs.
“We never dreamed it would get this big,” Sharon Longhurst said.
“Think of how many hedgehogs we’ve saved that wouldn’t be here today,” her husband added. “It’s just an amazing feeling.”
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