Baby Hedgehogs Saved

SIX baby hedgehogs have been saved from certain death thanks to a sharp-eyed gardener and quick action from a Henley vet.

Tina O’Heney, who runs the Ladybugs professional gardening company, received a call from one of her staff who was working in a garden in Twyford.

She told her boss she had found a tiny hedgehog and was worried about its health.Miss O’Heney rushed to the garden and searched in case there were any more babies.

She discovered five more hiding in a pile of leaves, cuddling up to the body of their dead mother.

She wrapped up the four-week-old babies in a woollen cardigan and took them to her home in Orchard Estate, Twyford, where she kept them warm with a hot water bottle.Miss O’Heney, 42, said: "The poor little things were frozen. I am an animal lover so it was terrible to see them in such a state. I had to spend around two hours picking bluebottle eggs and ticks from them."

She then took the animals to the Veterinary Centre in Reading Road, Henley, where vet Fiona Blair and nurse Alex Yockney took charge.

The vet made sure the hedgehogs hadn’t suffered any injuries before handing them over to Alex.

She said: "Being born so late they were in great danger. Tina had done most of the good work in getting rid of the ticks so we just had to make sure they were warm." The centre does not have suitable facilities to care for hedgehogs so Alex loaded the prickly patients into her car and made the 24-mile dash to St Tiggywinkle’s hedgehog hospital near Aylesbury, where they are recovering.