In January 2010 I retired from my position as a lecturer in the Department of Health Professional Studies, University of Hull. I will however continue with my research in the field of chemical and sensory ecology. The current interdisciplinary project, for which I am the principal investigator, examines the relationship between odour profiles of droppings from sick and healthy hedgehogs, and the level of attractiveness of these odours to ticks.

I will also continue to look at trends in hedgehog populations that might shed further light on the reasons for the current decline in hedgehog populations in Britain. Anyone who looks after injured/sick hedgehogs, who might like to contribute to the data, please email me and I will email the data recording sheet.

In 2010 I will be playing lots more music and doing gigs again.

I am also committed to caring for as many sick hedgehogs as time will permit, taking the majority of those admitted to York RSPCA, restoring them to health, then releasing them into the wild. This work has produced much data which hopefully will reveal the incidence of various diseases, and the factors most likely to produce a rapid return to full health. The data has been collected as a result of keeping full and detailed records of each and every hedgehog that has come into my care. The weight of each animal was sytematically recorded as weight changes provide the biggest single clue to possible changes in health/immune status, indicating the need for further/new treatment. It is intended to make available any useful information to aid hedgehog care and in some small, but significant, way attempt to redress the balance so drastically upset by the 100,000 hedgehogs killed each year on Britain's roads.

Read the blog about the day-to-day lives of hedgehogs admitted to a sanctuary in Yorkshire: Tales from the hedgehog sanctuary.

Bunnell T. 2003. The effect of ‘healing with intent' on peak expiratory flow rates in asthmatics. Journal of the International Society for the study of subtle energies and energy medicine, Vol. 13 (1): 75-89.

The Assessment of British Hedgehog [Erinaceus europaeus] Casualties on Arrival and Determination of Optimum Release Weights Using a New Index
The above article was originally published in the Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation 25 (4):11-21, 2002

Savarimuthu D. and Bunnell T. 2002. The effects of music on clients with learning disabilities: a literature review. Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery, Vol. 8 (3): 160-165.

The incidence of disease and injury in displaced wild hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)
Originally published in the journal LUTRA Volume 44, Number 1, September 2001, pages 3 -14.

Bunnell T. 2001.:The Importance of Faecal Indices in Assessing Gastrointestinal Parasite Infestation and Bacterial Infection in the Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
Originally published in the Journal of Wildlife Rehabilitation 24 (2):13-17

Rehabilitation of wild hedgehogs
An effective, harmless treatment for tick (Ixodes hexagonus) infestation in the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus): paper originally published in the Journal of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, January-March 2001, Volume 19, No. 4, pages 25-26

Tea Tree Antiseptic Cream: A new treatment for ringworm and sarcoptic mange in the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus): paper published in the Journal of the Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, July-August 2000, Vol. 19, No. 2, pages 29-31

Rehabilitation of wild hedgehogs
Treatment for ringworm and sarcoptic mange in the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus): article published in The Rehabilitator, British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council, Newsletter 30, Winter 2000

Healing with Intent, an article published in Network, the Scientific and Medical Network Review, No. 73, August 2000

The Effect of 'Healing with Intent' on Peak Expiratory Flow Rates in Asthmatics
The above article was originally published in the International Journal of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, Volume 13, No. 1, pages 75 - 89.

A Tentative Mechanism for Healing originally published in Positive Health, Issue 23, December 1997, summarizes the latest research into the effects of healing with intent/laying- on-of-hands/reiki/faith healing/therapeutic touch/psychic healing and polarity therapy. Based on scientific studies, it suggests a theory for how healing with intent might possibly work.

The effects of hands-on healing on enzyme activity is a paper presented at the Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care held in Exeter, UK in December 1996, and published in abstract form in the associated journal

Susceptibility of juvenile hedgehogs to disease: some observations is an article originally published in Imprint, the newsletter of the Yorkshire Mammal Group based in York, UK

Music Makes a Difference: A Practical Guide to Developing Music Sessions with People with Learning Disabilities