A kind person who loves animals spent all night caring for what she thought was a sick baby hedgehog. However, she later discovered it was just a fake fur pom-pom. The elderly woman quickly acted when she saw what she believed was a lonely animal on the side of a road in England.
The elderly woman had rushed into action when she thought she spotted a hedgehog on the side of a road in England.
After a night of not seeing the fluffy ball move or eat, the kind person took it to Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital in Cheshire.
“It was the first animal brought in that day. The lady came with a box and said she found this baby hedgehog on the pavement. It was cold, so she picked it up,” recalled Janet Kotze, the manager of the wildlife hospital, describing the surprising situation.
“I was worried because it’s very early in the year for baby hedgehogs, so I was a bit concerned. I took the box from her and brought it to a separate room called triage.
“I opened the box and, well, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I thought, ‘It’s definitely not a hedgehog, maybe it’s some other kind of fluffy creature.'”
As soon as she picked up the fuzzy ball, Kotze realized what it actually was.
“I realized it wasn’t moving at all. When I picked it up, I could feel it didn’t have the weight of a hedgehog or any other animal,” Kotze explained.
After a night without witnessing the puffball move or eat, the good Samaritan rushed it to Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital in Cheshire.
“I put it back in the box and then told the lady, ‘It’s actually just a bobble from a hat.'”
The person who brought it in was very embarrassed, according to Kotze. She asked if the manager was “joking” before leaving the hospital with her box and bobble.
“She was really nice. Bless her, she had good intentions,” Kotze said.
The hospital manager explained that the animal lover made the mistake because she didn’t look closely enough at the hat decoration. She had put what she thought was the baby animal into a cardboard box, lined it with newspaper, and put cat food inside.
The hospital manager shared that the animal lover had made the mistake of not looking closely enough to see it wasn’t a hedgehog.
She kept checking on the animal during the night, but she stayed away from it to give it space to recover. She never got close enough to notice that it didn’t have ears, eyes, legs, or any other animal-like features.
The weight of the bobble didn’t make her realize it wasn’t a hedgehog, but it was the first clue for Kotze that something wasn’t right.
“I would have known right away from the weight—a bobble is really light. But she had good intentions,” Kotze said. “I don’t think she’ll do the same thing again. I think she’ll check next time.”
The Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital posted the funny story on Facebook last weekend. They said the woman’s kindness really touched their hearts.
Kotze also reminded other animal lovers to do what the woman did if they see a real hedgehog out during the daytime. This usually means the hedgehog is in trouble.
“It’s important to remember that hedgehogs shouldn’t be out during the day, especially little ones like that. But she did the right thing, except it wasn’t actually a hedgehog,” Kotze wrote.