Bonnie Ann Mauger has spent decades building and enjoying a diverse career in fields including security, investigation and research, and the travel industry. A positive and compassionate spirit who lives by the credo that “you only live once,” Ms. Mauger has been the owner of Sir Snuffy’s Hedgehogs since 1992. A Tampa-based hedgehog rescue accredited by the Hedgehog Welfare Society, Sir Snuffy’s Hedgehogs was created to care for, foster, and find homes for abandoned and relinquished hedgehogs. A lifelong animal lover, Ms. Mauger has been a hedgehog owner and enthusiast for many years, and her dedication to ensuring that these unique animals receive the specialized care that they require to thrive led her to open Sir Snuffy’s Hedgehogs. Often misunderstood and poorly cared for, hedgehogs are illegal to possess in some areas of the country and are rarely accepted by traditional animal shelters, leaving owners and homeless hedgehogs in a challenging position.
Sir Snuffy’s Hedgehogs often houses up to a dozen animals, and Ms. Mauger works hard to place them in qualified and loving homes or otherwise guarantee their lifelong care and safety. She is a veteran member of the larger hedgehog enthusiast community, where she is regarded as a familiar face and source of advice for other owners and breeders, providing information on nutrition, behaviors and health, as well as recommendations for supplies and competent exotic animal veterinary clinics gathered from her years of hedgehog care. In addition to running Sir Snuffy’s Hedgehogs, Ms. Mauger has been involved with a number of projects and publications for hedgehog lovers, contributing to the Hedgehog Welfare Society’s newsletter and to the Pinelope Project, an independent initiative gathering data about ovarian diseases in female hedgehogs, a common and often fatal ailment. She is a member of the International Hedgehog Association and the Hedgehog Welfare Society.
Outside her work in animal welfare, Ms. Mauger is a certified and licensed non-denominational minister in the state of Florida, and is proud to offer her services for weddings, funerals, house and business blessings, and other spiritual events. She is honored to be a part of her clients’ life celebrations and transitions and to bring her unique energy and warmth to their ceremonies. Ms. Mauger is also licensed as a class D security guard in the state of Florida, and has worked regularly at the Tampa Bay Downs for the last several seasons. As a part of her commitment to serving others and using her skills to better the community at large, Ms. Mauger donates her services as a security guard to the Family Living Center of Clearwater, Florida. Her career as a security guard was built on 27 years of experience as a private investigator for the insurance industry, where she specialized in investigating dental and chiropractic claims. Ms. Mauger explains that she came to the field unexpectedly, carried by her love for research and what she describes as “opening the door when opportunity knocked.”
Ms. Mauger credits her success in so many fields to her positivity and commitment to give every project her full effort, “not merely 100%.” She spent her childhood in foster care and group homes, and adopted a survivor mentality at a young age, encouraging her later “seize-the-day” approach to life and business. Ms. Mauger holds an associate’s degree from Penn Hall Junior College, earned her private investigator certification through Hillsborough Community College, and attended the McConnell Airline School for flight attendant and airline reservation agent training during the 1960s, an experience she looks back on fondly.