Kya Buller
It’s not uncommon these days for our fellow humans to say they prefer animals to people.
Some of us may even feel compelled to personally come to the aid of struggling animals that we may find in our midst.
This was certainly the case for an unnamed woman in Knutsford, Cheshire.
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The woman explained to staff at Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital that she had been doting on a ‘baby hedgehog’ she'd found on the pavement.
She explained that she had been looking after the motionless creature ‘all night’ - even set it up in cosy surroundings by placing the mammal in a box lined with newspaper next to a small bowl of food.
When it failed to make any progress, she brought it to the animal hospital to get it checked out.
And the hospital's manager, Janet Kotze, was ‘alarmed’ as it was 'very early' to be encountering baby hedgehogs - whisking the critter through to triage.
Upon closer inspection, Janet 'couldn't believe what she was seeing' as the shocking discovery was that the prickly patient was, in fact, a fluffy bobble from a woolly hat.
She then told the woman the news, who exclaimed 'you're joking!’ before leaving the animal hospital - taking the hat bobble with her.
Janet said that the lady's heart was 'in the right place', but she's unlikely to make the same mistake again.
Recounting the events, she said: "I thought 'it's definitely not a hedgehog, perhaps it's some other kind of a 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 came out and said to the lady 'it's actually a bobble off a bobble hat'."
Janet said the woman was 'very embarrassed' by the mix-up, adding: "Bless her, her heart was in the right place. She took the box from me and left quite quickly."
She continued to say: "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.
“I think she'll check next time."
If you do happen to stumble across an actual hedgehog in broad daylight however, Janet advises that they should be taken to a rescue center as it's a clear sign they're in distress.
She added: "It's a golden rule that hedgehogs shouldn't be out in 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."