On January 19, 2025, at 8 a.m., we were on the golf course to play a round. Apart from the springboks and their young, we were alone. What a beautiful sight to watch them take their first jumps. (They do this a few hours after they are born – human children take a lot longer until they make their first jumps!)

We had teed off and were walking with our carts to the golf balls. But not only they were lying on the grass, but also a young and very weak hedgehog. Brigitta grabbed him carefully, placed it under a palm tree and covered the young hedgehog with leaves. (The plan was that after the golf game we would pick him up there and take home with us.)

That’s how it happened. Brigitta wrapped the young hedgehog, whom I named Spiky, in a cloth and placed it on a bed bottle. He was then treated to cat food, which he ate in no time. Brigitta realized that Spiky, like all hedgehogs, is nocturnal when he escaped from his box. She was woken up by the sound of Spiky falling onto the floor. She then found him in the bathroom, where he crawled around. Brigitta has now created a new home for him. One in which he can hide during the day and also can no longer escape from!

PS: If you want to know more about these spiny creatures, read here.