Woman Caring for Hedgehog Discovered on Road Learns What She Really Found — 'I Think She’ll Check Next Time'

A compassionate animal enthusiast devoted an entire night to caring for what she believed to be an ailing baby hedgehog, only to discover it was nothing more than a faux fur pom-pom.

The kind-hearted woman sprang into action upon spotting what she thought was an abandoned creature on the roadside in England.

Concerned for its well-being, she spent the night observing the fluffy ball, noticing no signs of movement or feeding. She eventually brought it to Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital in Cheshire.

Recalling the peculiar incident, wildlife hospital manager Janet Kotze described the woman's arrival with a box containing what she believed to be a cold and abandoned baby hedgehog.

"It was the first admission of the day," Kotze said. "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."

Upon opening the box, Kotze was taken aback. "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.’”

Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the object was indeed a pom-pom off a hat.

The woman, embarrassed but good-natured, had mistaken the hat embellishment for a real animal. Kotze remarked, "She was very sweet. Bless her, her heart was in the right place."

The mix-up occurred because the woman hadn't examined the object closely enough. She had placed what she thought was a baby hedgehog in a cardboard box lined with newspaper and provided it with cat food.

Throughout the night, she checked on the "creature" regularly from a distance, never realizing it lacked any features of a real animal.

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Despite the weight of the bobble providing a clue, the woman's intentions were commendable. Kotze expressed, "I don’t think she’ll make the same mistake again, I think she’ll check next time."

Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve & Wildlife Hospital shared the amusing anecdote on Facebook, praising the woman's compassionate nature. Kotze urged others to emulate her kindness but reminded them to ensure they're rescuing real animals, particularly hedgehogs found wandering during the daytime, which could indicate distress.

"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," Kotze wrote.