Animal lover cares for sick 'baby hedgehog' all night – before learning the truth – The Mirror
An animal lover thought they had made the rescue of a lifetime when they brought home a sick ‘baby hedgehog’ and tried nursing it to health all night – but all was not as it seemed
Doing a good deed is always a positive thing, but one woman was left red-faced when she attempted to rescue what she believed was a "baby hedgehog".
The keen animal lover thought she had found a baby hedgehog – known as a hoglet – on the pavement and carefully picked it up to take it home in an attempt to nurse it back to health. The anonymous woman was left panicked when the little critter hadn't made a recovery in the morning and she promptly whisked it to a wildlife hospital to have it looked at by a professional.
However, she was mortified when hospital manager Janet Kotze gave her some devastating news – she hadn't rescued a baby hedgehog at all, as the small ball of fluff was actually the bobble from the top of a woolly hat.
Janet, who works at Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital, in Knutsford, Cheshire, said the woman rushed in on Thursday morning with a cardboard box under her arm, and told her she had spent the night trying to tempt the "baby mammal" to eat from a small dish of food.
The vet took the cardboard box to triage but, when she opened the lid, she was stunned to find that the lifeless object inside wasn't an animal at all. After Janet delivered the news, the mortified woman exclaimed "you're joking", before shuffling off with the box, and bobble, under her arm.
Janet explained: "It was the first admission of the day. The lady came in with a box, she said she had found this baby hedgehog on the pavement and it was cold and she picked it up. I was alarmed as it's very early for baby hedgehogs so I was a bit concerned. I took the box from her and took it through to triage, which is a separate room.
"I opened the box and, well, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. I thought 'It's definitely not a hedgehog, perhaps it's some other kind of fluffy creature'. I realised it wasn't animated at all and I picked it up and obviously with the weight I could feel that it wasn't a hedgehog or any animal at all.
"I put it back in the box and came out and said to the lady 'It's actually a bobble off a bobble hat'. She was very embarrassed, she said 'you're joking'. She was very sweet, bless her, her heart was in the right place. She took the box from me and left quite quickly.
"I found it funny afterwards but I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing because to me a hedgehog is obviously a hedgehog. I would have immediately known from the weight – a bobble weighs nothing but bless her heart was in the right place. I don't think she'll make the same mistake again, I think she'll check next time."
And for any other budding animal rescuers out there, Janet shared one golden rule when it comes to hedgehog safety. She added: "It's a golden rule that hedgehogs shouldn't be out in the daytime, especially little ones like that, but she did absolutely the right thing – aside from the fact that it wasn't a hedgehog. Mostly if they're found out in the daytime in the open, there's definitely something wrong and they should be taken to rescue."
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