A MONTH IN THE LIFE OF…

Kyra Barboutis and Sophie Smith, who are both 13, run a hedgehog hospital in Stratford-upon-avon – and even count Sir David Attenborough as a fan

the hedgehog girls

We set up our hospital four years ago after learning that hedgehogs were in danger of becoming extinct, and visiting Warwickshire Hedgehog Rescue, a local charity, to find out why. We discovered they were in decline because of the way we use land. There are fewer hedges, which is where they like to live, and their favourite foods – insect larvae and invertebrates – are harder to find. We each run a clinic from a shed in our back gardens. We have rehabilitated more than 500 hedgehogs, who might have been hurt or starving in the wild, giving them names like Amy Spinehouse and Quilliam Shakespeare. Sometimes we find them ourselves, but often locals bring them in. Each hedgehog has its own cage and medical notes. When new patients arrive, we give them pain relief and clean them up. Our local vet has trained us to administer injections and gives us any medication they might need, but we take them to the vet if they need surgery. If the hedgehogs are weak, we might give them hydrotherapy – allowing them to swim in a tub of water, which helps them build strength. They are surprisingly good swimmers. Our days begin at 5am because hoglets – baby hedgehogs

– need to be hand-fed. We do this using a syringe every three hours. Our mums do the 2am feed so that we can get a good night’s sleep, and our grandmas feed the hoglets while we’re at school. Our work resumes when we get home at 4pm. We’ll feed any hoglets, then do some homework. After that, we’ll top up the adults’ bowls with dog or cat food and sterilise their cages. Then we’ll eat, do more homework and go to bed around 9pm on a quiet night or 11pm if we need to do a night feed. In the spring, wild hedgehogs will be waking up after

hibernation. Sometimes food is scarce, so we’ll take them in until they’re a healthy weight. Others might have lost their homes due to floods – the rain can flush them out of their nests. Gardeners should look out for hedgehogs. Strimmer wounds are common at this time of year as they like to nest in piles of leaves beside hedges. If you’re strimming, gently tap the area with your foot – if you feel something hard, it could be a hedgehog.

If you see a hedgehog during the day, it might be ill – they’re nocturnal. If it’s injured, bring it indoors and place it in a high-sided box with a bowl of water and something to hide under. If it’s cold outside, you could put a hot water bottle nearby. You could offer it dog or cat food, but avoid bread and milk as hedgehogs are lactose-intolerant. We release a lot of hedgehogs in March. It’s often too cold to do that in the winter, but as the weather warms up, there should be food around for them to eat. We release hoglets once they reach 650g – adult size. We weigh them on scales, wearing gloves to protect our hands and prevent contamination. It’s difficult not to get attached. We have to remember that they’re wild animals. The young ones are tamer as they see us as a source of food, but they turn grouchy as teenagers, squirming and trying to get away from us. Sir David Attenborough recently wrote us a letter. He said he was glad we were helping hedgehogs, as they need all the help they can get. We both want to be vets and hope to rescue a lot more animals in the future.. FOR MORE INFORMATION visit hedgehogfriendlytown.co.uk.