Barney the Baby Hedgehog (2 page)

Chapter Three

“Don’t worry – Mum will be here soon,” Eva whispered.

Barney had slowly unrolled and set off towards Tom Ingleby’s flower beds. He took refuge amongst some bright yellow marigolds.

“I bet you’re hungry,” she went on. “I wonder what you like to eat.”

“Maggots,” Tom Ingleby said, appearing at the farmhouse door. “Worms, beetles and slugs.”

“Lovely!” Eva grimaced. “I guess we’ll stick to cat food.”

“Yes, and don’t give him cows’ milk,” Tom advised, leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “People think hedgehogs like a saucer of milk, but it makes them poorly.”

As they talked, Eva heard a car in the lane. “See – I said she wouldn’t be long!” Eva told Barney, running to meet her mum.

“Here’s the carrier,” Heidi said, unloading it from the boot of the car. “Now where is the little chap? Let me take a look.”

Barney peered out from the flower bed. He twitched his tiny, black nose.

“Oh yes, he’s just a baby,” Heidi confirmed, crouching down to look at the hedgehog. “Probably about four weeks old.”

“He must be really scared,” Eva whispered. “I feel so sorry for him.”

Her mum nodded. “He definitely wouldn’t survive on his own. For a start, he needs to put on weight, and as he probably isn’t fully weaned yet that would be hard for him to do. So we’ll feed him through a dropper filled with a special glucose preparation,” Heidi decided.

Eva set the pet carrier down on the grass whilst Heidi scooped some cat food into a plastic dish. “Let’s hope this does the trick.”

“Will Barney eat solids?” Eva asked as they stepped back and waited.

Heidi nodded. “He’ll already be eating caterpillars and so on, mixed in with his mother’s milk.”

Eva watched Barney carefully. He’d raised his head and sniffed, but so far he hadn’t moved, instead staying hidden amongst the leaves and flowers. “Come on, little Barney!” she urged. “We won’t hurt you.”

“He’s probably in a state of shock,” Heidi said slowly. “We might have to pick him up and put him in the carrier.”

“Yes, it’ll soon be dusk,” Tom agreed. “We don’t want him to run off now – you’ll never find him!”

“But we’re not supposed to handle him.” Eva was anxious. “His mother won’t want him if we pick him up!”

Heidi shook her head. “That’s true, but I think we have to face facts, Eva. His mother isn’t coming back for him in any case.”

“You mean, Barney’s an orphan?”

“He might just as well be,” Heidi agreed. She went to the car and collected a pair of thick leather gloves. “From now on this little hedgehog will be relying on us to look after him.”

“Cool! So can I pick him up?” Eva stepped forward. “Please, Mum. I was the one who found him.”

Her mother nodded and handed over the gloves. “Do it gently. I expect he’ll curl up tight.”

Eva put on the gloves and knelt down
on the grass. She eased back the broad leaves and slowly cupped her hands around Barney.

The baby hedgehog sensed danger and rolled into a ball.

“Try to get one hand underneath him,” Heidi said. “Rock him from side to side then roll him on to your palm. That’s it.”

Carefully Eva followed her mum’s instructions until she had Barney safe between her hands. Then she carried him to the pet carrier and popped him in, rolling him off her palm into the
straw-lined
box.

“Job done!” Heidi said, quickly closing the mesh door. She picked up the carrier and loaded it into the car. “Thanks, Tom. I hope we haven’t been too much of a nuisance,” she told him.

The farmer waved them off. “No problem. I’m glad Eva spotted the little fellow.”

Eva got in the car and sighed with relief. “Let’s go, Mum!” she urged. “Barney must be starving. Animal Magic, here we come!”

“What’s wrong with him? He won’t unroll.” Back at the rescue centre, Karl watched Eva trying to give the baby hedgehog fluid through a plastic dropper. Barney had resisted and stayed curled up tight.

“I can see that for myself.” Eva frowned.

“Having trouble?” Jen called across the room. She was nursing a young rabbit called Ozzy who was recovering from surgery on his badly broken leg.

Heidi had been called out on an emergency and had left Eva and Animal Magic’s new veterinary assistant, Jen Andrews, to take care of Barney in the small animals unit.

“Yes, how do we get him to unroll?” Eva asked.

“Wait a second while I finish with Ozzy.” Quickly, Jen fixed the rabbit’s water bottle so that it was within easy reach, then she came across.

“See – Barney’s not interested in taking a drink,” Eva explained. “He hasn’t moved since we brought him in.”

Jen ran a hand through her long dark hair. She’d been working at Animal Magic since the middle of the summer, quickly settling in and showing that she knew plenty about small animals in particular. Hamsters were her favourites, closely
followed by rabbits. “OK,” she told Karl and Eva. “First of all, Karl, I want you to fetch a heat-lamp from the storeroom.”

“Coming right up,” Karl said, dashing off.

“It’ll help restore Barney’s body heat,” Jen explained.

“What’s the reason he won’t unroll?” Eva asked. She’d been hoping that the peace and safety of the unit would help him to feel safe.

“Think about it – he’s had a bad day,” Jen explained, reaching for the leather gloves. “First he loses his mum and brothers and sisters. Second he gets picked up by a giant and taken off to a strange place.”

“A
friendly
giant!” Eva insisted.

“But Barney doesn’t know that. He’s still in a state of shock.” Jen put on the gloves and reached into the cage. Gently she rocked Barney back and forth.

“Why are you doing that?” Eva asked.

“The rocking motion calms him down.”

“How did you learn all this?”

“When I was a teenager I worked in a hedgehog rescue centre close to where I lived in County Kerry. I learned all sorts of useful tricks. I’ll give you their name and you can check out their website.”

Gradually, as Jen kept on rocking Barney he began to uncurl.

“Wow, look at that,” Karl said when he came back with the lamp.

Eva watched as Barney’s head came into view and he peered around with his shortsighted eyes. “Shall I try him with the dropper?” she asked Jen.

“Yes. Hold it above his head and slightly to one side. Try and make the fluid drip into the corner of his mouth.”

Eva did exactly as Jen told her, and was
delighted when Barney opened his lips and let the glucose solution dribble into his mouth. “He’s drinking it!”

“Well done. Now, Karl, turn the lamp on. I’ll fetch the anti-maggot powder. We don’t want any unwelcome guests hatching out in the unit, do we?”

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” Eva asked Karl, feeling a tight knot of worry in her stomach begin to unwind now that little Barney was happily gulping his drink.

Karl nodded. “I’m going to go and email Joel and tell him all about Barney,” he decided.

“Yeah, say he should never have left us and gone to work in Russia!” Eva said with a smile. “Oh, and tell him I miss him!” 

Chapter Four

Karl showed Eva the email before he set out on an early morning dog walk with Buddy the golden Labrador-cross. “Hang on, Buddy,” he said as the boisterous youngster pulled at his lead. “Do you think Joel likes his new job?” he asked Eva.

“It’s hard to tell. But I’m glad it’s not me vaccinating hundreds of cattle in the freezing cold.” Eva was in a hurry to help Jen in the small animals unit. “Give me hamsters and hedgehogs any day!”

“Morning, Eva!” Jen called, as Eva joined her. Even though it was Sunday and her day off, Jen had come in to check on Ozzy.

“How’s Barney?” Eva asked, making a beeline for the baby hedgehog.

She found him snoozing in his cage, half-buried in straw. “I looked at your hedgehog sanctuary website,” she told Jen. “It told me lots of stuff I didn’t know.”

“I’m glad Barney’s had a good sleep,” Jen commented as she joined Eva. “All these new smells and sounds confuse him. And hedgehogs don’t see too well, so that muddles him even more.”

“That’s what I thought,” Eva laughed.
“Barney looks like a little old man who needs new glasses!”

“Anyway, it’ll be fine to wake him now that he’s had a rest.” Jen fetched some scales from a nearby shelf. “Let’s weigh him so we can keep a check on his weight gain over this next week or so.”

“Cool! Can I do it?” Eva had read how to do this on the website. It meant putting on the thick gloves and rocking Barney on to the palm of her hand, then transferring him gently to the dish of the
old-fashioned
scales.

“Now put the weights on the other end of the balance until it evens up exactly,” Jen told her.

Eva looked anxiously at Barney, whose eyes were open but who was still curled tight in the brass dish. “What if he tries to make a dash for it?”

“He won’t. Anyway, we’re nearly done,” Jen muttered as Eva slid the last
disc-shaped
weight on to the scales. “He weighs 560 grams.”

“Can I take him off now?” Eva checked.

“Yes. Snuggle him back into his straw bed.” Jen noted down the figure on a chart she’d set up for Barney. “He needs to reach 600 grams so that he’ll be fat
enough to get through the winter. The sooner he reaches that weight, the sooner we can let him go. So we need to fatten him up a bit!”

Eva nodded. She put Barney back in his cage and rocked him to and fro until he uncurled. “There, you see – safe and sound.”

Rustling deep into the straw, Barney peered out, sniffing hard as Eva dished up some cat food.

“This is for you,” she told him. “Yum!”

Barney poked his nose out of the straw. Nervously he shuffled forwards.

“It’s scrummy – try it!” Eva whispered.

Sniff-sniff
– Barney edged forward. He put his front paws on to the edge of the saucer and dipped his snout into the food. Another quick sniff then he opened his mouth and began to chomp happily.

“Success.” Jen smiled. “And I’ve checked the splint on Ozzy’s leg, which seems fine, so I’m out of here!”

Eva nodded. “Enjoy your day off.”

“I will. I’m cycling over to Clifton to see some friends. What are you up to?”

Eva checked things off on her fingers. “Feed the rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. Take two dogs for walks. Muck out Rosie and Mickey’s stables…”

“Stop!” Jen put up both hands. “I’m worn out just thinking about it!”

“Oh, and then this afternoon Annie and I are riding Guinevere.” Eva laughed. “That is, if I have time!”

“You should have seen Barney dashing about looking for his mum in Mr Ingleby’s yard,” Eva told her next door neighbour
and best friend, Annie Brooks. Annie was riding Guinevere by the riverbank while Eva walked alongside. “He was so scared he didn’t know which way to run.”

Annie pulled on the reins as her mum’s grey mare stopped to chew grass. “Cut it out, Gwinnie. Mum doesn’t like hedgehogs in her garden,” she told Eva. “She says they wear a path across her lawn.”

“Tut!” Eva swished at the long grass with a stick she’d picked up from the bank. “She ought to love them. They eat the slugs that chomp her lettuce.”

“I’ll tell her.” Annie grinned. Still struggling to raise Gwinnie’s head, she slid from the saddle, gave Eva the hard-hat, then handed her the reins. “Your turn!”

Happily, Eva put her foot in the stirrup and sprang into the saddle. “Walk on,
Gwinnie,” she said with a click of her tongue.

Guinevere flicked her ears and tossed her long white mane. She set off at a smart walk.

“Trot on!” Eva said with a squeeze of her legs. “Is it OK if I canter?” she asked Annie.

“Go for it!”

Eva turned Guinevere away from the river and sat deep in the saddle, sending the horse into a smooth canter up the hill towards Annie’s house. In the distance, Guinevere’s foal, Merlin, plus Mickey and Rosie were quietly grazing.

“Whee!” Eva loved the feel of the wind in her face and the thundering sound of the horse’s hooves.

Rosie, Merlin and Mickey looked up, then galloped to join in the fun. The little brown and white Shetland soon fell behind the frisky foal and the long-legged donkey, who almost cannoned into Gwinnie and Eva.

“Whoa, Mickey!” Eva yelled, pulling on the reins to bring Gwinnie to a halt.

The donkey bared his teeth and dug in his hooves, coming to a sudden stop beside them.

“Watch where you’re going, Mickey!” Eva cried, laughing at stout little Rosie as she trotted up behind Mickey and Merlin.

“It’s not fair, is it, Rosie. Everyone has longer legs than you.”

Rosie kicked up her heels and put in a little buck of pure joy.

“Hey, Annie, shall we take this lot in from the field and give them a good
grooming?” Eva asked, looking over her shoulder to see her friend running up from the riverbank. “I could ride back to the yard and fetch the head collars.”

“No need!” Annie’s mother’s head appeared over the hedge. She must have heard the girls while she’d been working in her garden. “I have head collars here. Wait a minute.”

Moments later, Linda appeared with the halters.

“Annie, you lead Mickey and Merlin. Eva, you carry on riding Guinevere back to the yard. I’ll bring Rosie along in a few minutes and lend a hand. Then Gwinnie and Merlin can come back into the field overnight. The weather forecast said that it was going to be nice and mild.”

“Thanks, Mum.” Annie grinned up at Eva. Not so long ago, her mum would
have been complaining about the noise made by the animals at the rescue centre, not offering to come and help.

It was the end of a perfect sunny Sunday afternoon in early September, and Eva knew that life didn’t get much better than this.