Three baby hedgehogs who found themselves in a prickly situation after they were left to fend for themselves in the cold are now keeping warm – in stylish WOOLLYHATS.
The hoglets, affectionately nicknamed Cheeky, Sleepy and Greedy, were spotted wandering around in broad daylight by animal-lover Angela Fenton.
Angela, 53, saved the babies from a grisly fate as they wandered towards the road and with the only animal sanctuary in the area full, she decided to take them in.
The tiny hedgehogs, who were disorientated and desperate for food, needed to be kept warm throughout the winter to stop them going into hibernation and starving to death.
And so to help the prickly survivors, a good samaritan who heard of their plight donated three miniature hats for them to sport over the winter months.
Angela says she has been amazed by the support she has received from the community.
Mum-of- five Angela, of Blackpool, Lancs., said: “I am overwhelmed by the generosity of people helping me care for the hedgehogs.
“The biggest one is Sleepy, and he sleeps all the time.
“The other two run straight out when I come to feed them. Greedy goes straight in – and Cheeky pushes him out of the way with his nose.
Angela, who works at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool, has also received money donations to go towards buying dog food, meaty cat biscuits and dried meal worms for the ‘autumn juveniles’ – young hedgehogs too small to survive the cold winter months alone.
She said: ‘One man actually came round to my house with a chicken coop which he thought might be useful for housing them. Another man gave me #20 when I saw him in the street saying he wanted to help take care of them.
“We even had offers to ‘hedgehog babysit’ for when I go away on holiday.”
Angela is now on the look-out for a vet willing to provide flea and worm treatment to keep the hoglets in top form until they can be released into the wild next March.
“So far I’ve not had much luck as they are classed as wild animals,” she said. “But at the end of the day they are still an animal and a cute one at that.”
