Tina Hutton-Fellowes Hedgehog helper...
I
bet when Tina Hutton-Fellowes was serving in the Royal Logistics Corps in countries like Kosovo or Belize, she never thought she’d one day be rescuing hedgehogs in a tiny village on the edge of Dartmoor! Tina was originally from Plymouth and served 22 years in the Army. She and her partner and son moved to Sparkwell around seven years ago and now she now works as a gardener locally. Tina said: ‘I’ve always loved gardening - I love the fact I can choose my clients and fit in other things around my work.’ A close affinity with the seasons and nature is key to a gardener - and Tina’s love of all animals is what has led her to her most recent mission, promoting awareness of hedgehogs and how their survival is threatened in many areas of the country. ‘I’ve always loved animals,’ said Tina. ‘I did a course with a hedgehog carer in Plymouth at the end of last October - by the end of November I was caring for hedgehogs and getting more experience through working with a lady in Dartmouth - she’s caring for about 57 at the moment!’ Tina gets up at 5.30am on weekdays to clean and feed her ‘little rascals’ before taking her son to school. Her hedgehog dormitory in the garden is spotless - though she said they are not the most house-proud of guests and she gets through huge amounts of old newspapers! ‘I’ve been really lucky - ever since I put something on our local Facebook page, I’ve been given food, fleeces, newspapers - people are so generous, it’s amazing.’ She’s also boosting her knowledge through more courses and is clearly 14
passionate about the little prickly creatures’ welfare. ‘I just think we can all do a bit more - I wasn’t sure how this was going to pan out and didn’t think I’d end up with eight hedgehogs in my shed it’s been a quick progression, but it’s lovely!’ Tina explained that the hogs were completely nocturnal - so if you see a hedgehog during the day, at
I just think we can all “ do a bit more - I wasn’t sure how this was going to pan out and didn’t think I’d end up with eight hedgehogs in my shed
To help hedgehogs, Tina advises that gardeners shouldn’t use slug pellets or pesticides and should try and keep netting off the ground, as the hogs can easily get trapped. Makes sure there’s a small hole in your garden perimeter so they can access the next piece of land without heading for the road and if you think you have a hedgehog in your garden, put out wet or dry cat or dog food, placing it on the garden perimeter. Pick up litter whenever you see it and if you can, leave a small wildlife space in the garden. And if you feed mealworms to the birds, don’t sprinkle them on the ground. ‘Hedgehogs are actually fussy eaters,’ said Tina. ‘It’s a bit like us with sugar - once they get a taste for mealworms, they won’t eat anything else and it causes calcium deficiencies which affects the babies.’ Apart from her growing love of hedgehogs, Tina and the family love to walk the family dogs, Thorn and Bentley and they all enjoy target shooting. They are also very involved with the thriving local scout group. Not surprisingly, Sparkwell scouts are well informed when it comes to hedgehogs. n Jane Honey
”
any time of the year, it indicates there’s something wrong. It could be a problem with parasites, an injury or they could be particularly hungry. Parasites have been a serious problem this year apparently. If you see a small hedgehog during the day in November or December, it’s likely they were born at the end of the year and haven’t reached the 650g weight they need to be to hibernate. These little ones will need to be looked after by carers like Tina, to enable them to survive the winter.
To promote your business to 16,100 readers - call 01822 615627
advertising@linksmagazines.co.uk
