Hedgehoggy cuteness

So, the BF & I saved(we hope!) a hedgehog last night. We were walking along a busy road and on the sidewalk of this road we found a substantially sized(about softball sized when curled up) hedgehog limping along as if he’d been hit by a passer-by or something. His leg was poking out in a strange angle but there was no blood or open wounds that we could see.

There was a bush right by him, which could have been safe for him if he had managed to get into it and stay there, but he had rolled down a little hilly bit(more like a glorified speed bump – but like Mt Kilamanjaro to him with his little injured leg!) onto the sidewalk and didn’t seem able to get himself into safety, which made us think he’d just be a target for vicious creatures or just die there, terrified and trembling, trying to get up the hill away from traffic.

So we made the decision to take him to my BF’s house and call a 24-hour vet. We put him in a cosy cardboard box with a soft towel and while my BF made arrangements for us to drop him off at the vets, I just watched the hedgehog be cute.

He kept smacking his lips like he was trying to taste something or was thirsty. I felt bad and wished I knew what to do to comfort him - what do hedgehogs need in order to be comforted? Then he wandered, half hobbled, into the corner of the box and kinda managed to curl up. He was super cute even if he was hurt! We took him to the vet by car, and the poor little guy jumped at every noise – he obviously was quite traumatised, if nothing else.

When the vet saw him(not sure if it even was a him, but I seem to have nominated that as his sex), she picked him upside down and he curled up like hedgehogs do, which was good - she said he had good reflexes and that was a good sign. She also said he had a MASSIVE tick on him – gross! He is a wild critter though, so of course they get ticks, lice, fleas and all sorts of fun creepy-crawlies on them, yuck!

According to the vet, the next step would be to sedate the little critter to find out just how badly hurt he was or wasn’t, and they’d know more once they’d had a look. We left him there knowing he was in very good, kind hands, and hoping he’d make a full recovery! So we’ll phone back today to ask how he/she is and hopefully it’ll be good news.

Thumbs up to 24-hour vets who take in wild critters in need!!!