We first met in the garden; Tig was very small and in the middle of the lawn. We never knew where he had come from or where his parents were. He also seemed very hungry but could not manage the bread and milk we tried on him. Fortunately, Nina, our half-Siamese mother, was at the time suckling some newborn kittens so we added Tig to the hungry crowd.
Nina was not too keen on the idea but, as long as other kittens were feeding at the same time, she tolerated Tig despite his bad table manners. The other kittens soon learned not to get too close and Tig prospered.

We learned a few things about hedgehogs. When young they have bright green poo; and when agitated they cover themselves with a white secretion.
Nina ended up having had ninety kittens, and Tig. Looking back it seems incredible but we found homes for all of them; their Siamese ancestry made them very attractive. The children would badger any visitor with “Would you like a kitten” and very often got a friendly and positive response. It was sad, however, how many of the kittens ended up being run over.
Nina had strong opinions of her own and now and then she would decide to move the kittens from their basket in the kitchen to an outside shed. But we also fielded a lady with equally firm opinions who would move them all back again. It was a strange sight; Nina taking them one by one in her mouth to their new home and the boss collecting them up to move them back again. In the end, we prevailed but it was a close-run thing.

Time passed, the kittens all went to their new homes and we built Tig his own hedgehog house near the fence. But we never knew if he ever lived in it or where he went. The boy next door dug a hole under the hedge between us for hedgehog traffic but again we never knew if it was ever used. Hedgehogs are their own person and would never accept being a pet. They are natural yobs and crash their way round the garden. 

Why do we love them so?

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Martin Tucker, 2 May 2025