- Janet Kotze ‘couldn’t believe what she was seeing’ when she made the discovery
- Do you know the well-meaning woman? Email jon.brady@mailonline.co.uk
A woman claimed she carefully nursed a stricken ‘baby hedgehog’ overnight only to find out it was a fluffy hat bobble when she rushed it to an animal hospital.
The animal lover claims she found what she believed to be an injured creature on the pavement and ‘spent a night looking after it’ – despite it being somewhat lighter and fluffier than the spiky creature.
The next morning, she took what she says she thought was a motionless mammal to Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital, in Knutsford, Cheshire, in a box meticulously lined with newspaper and even placed a small dish of food next to it, as she remained by its bedside.
But when hospital manager Janet Kotze opened the box, she realised the ‘hedgehog’ actually belonged on a woolly hat.
Ms Kotze said she ‘couldn’t believe what she was seeing’ when she made the discovery.
Do you know the well-meaning woman? Email jon.brady@mailonline.co.uk
And when she revealed the news to the rescuer, the embarrassed woman said: ‘You’re joking.’
The animal lover then sheepishly walked out of the animal hospital, box in hand.
An amused Ms Kotze said: ‘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.
‘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 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.
‘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 don’t think she’ll make the same mistake again, I think she’ll check next time.’
Ms Kotze added that if people see a hedgehog out in the open during daytime they should be taken to a rescue as it is a sign they are distressed.
Janet said: ‘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.’