When a homeowner in Oxfordshire, England, stepped outside one morning, she was stunned by what she found tangled in her garden gate. Wedged between the ornate metal bars was a tiny bundle of prickles. As she moved closer, she realized it was a hedgehog.
Knowing the hedgehog needed help — and fast — the homeowner tried to free the animal herself. But when she struggled to disentangle the prickly creature, she decided to remove the entire section of the gate, load it into the rear of her car and drive straight to Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, a rescue and rehabilitation center for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife in Haddenham, England.
Jo Maunder, the casualty receptionist at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, had seen just about everything during her time at the hospital. But she never expected someone to walk through the door carrying an entire section of a garden gate — with a hedgehog still attached to it.
“I was gobsmacked,” Maunder told The Dodo. “My first thoughts were, 'Poor hedgehog," and, 'What a lovely lady to go out of her way to get it to us.'”
The veterinary team carefully freed the hedgehog from the metalwork before returning the gate to its owner. Then they gave the hedgehog, who they named Ivy, a thorough check.
“As hedgehogs are nocturnal, coming out to forage at night, it was quite possibly stuck for a number of hours through the night as it was very weak, tired and dehydrated by the time it was admitted to the hospital,” Suzi Kemp, communications manager at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, told The Dodo.
Kemp explained that it was pretty common for the Tiggywinkles staff to receive animals who've gotten stuck in things like fence posts, netting, wire fencing and even bird feeders. She also said that animals found in these situations might suffer from bruising, deep cuts, or even stricture wounds, which can be serious if left untreated.
Fortunately, Ivy escaped with only minor injuries. After spending a week recovering at the hospital, she was healthy enough to be released back into the wild.
“Our team was all delighted to hear that Ivy made a full recovery, and so was the lady who brought her in to us when we gave her the news,” Kemp said. "It’s always a lovely part of the job to give someone the good news that the animal they helped to save has been returned to the wild."
