PRICKLY & SICKLY Home’s 300 ill hedghogs
STEP inside Barbara Roberts’s home – very, very carefully – and you will meet more than 300 rescued hedgehogs.
The retired nurse has not taken a holiday in 33 years, spending her pension caring for sick and disabled animals that are brought to her.
These little lodgers get through 1,000 tins of dog food a month.
Barbara, 65, began caring for the creatures in 1984 and set up Withington Hedgehog Care Trust 15 years ago. In 2014 she was awarded a British Empire Medal for her wildlife work.
Barbara recalls: “I began when a hedgehog fell into my garden pond. Now I look after hundreds.
“Sadly they’re dying out. We have to look after British wildlife. It would be devastating not to have them around.”
Barbara’s Manchester semi is crammed with incubators. Hundreds more of the timid creatures live in a custom-built outhouse. They arrive at all times of day and night, via the police, animal charities and the public.
Holding an albino hedgehog, one of OUR vet Brian Faulkner, from Petplan, has 16 years of experience and is a freelance working all over the country. Send your questions to Brian at: Petplan, Great West House, Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9DX or via Petplan’s Facebook page facebook.com/ PetplanUK. only seven she has cared for, Barbara explains: “They arrive with legs hanging off, injured by strimmers or mowers or knocked down in the road.
“Then we get cruelty cases – we get fireworks tied to legs, we’ve had them set alight or used as balls for cricket bats. I’ve seen unbelievable cruelty.”
Barbara says 98 per cent are released back into the wild – at three stately homes across the North.
The shelter receives around £1,500 a year in donations, but Barbara admits money is always tight. “The hedgehogs cost £240 a week in food alone,” she says. “Then there’s medication and vet’s care. But the animals come first.”
Cover drains and put bricks at edges of ponds so hedgehogs can get out.
Check before you strim or mow, and take care forking your compost heap. Remove unused netting. Try coffee grounds or crushed eggshells instead of slug pellets.
Leave a shallow bowl of water, and food such as dog or cat food, not fishbased, or chopped boiled eggs.
facebook.com/ withingtonhedgehog. MY fouryear-old cat has started chewing and even biting her tail. She does not seem to be in pain but I fear she might end up hurt. What can I do?