On the night of the 12-13th July we were standing outside enjoying the wonders of an impressive thunderstorm when a quieter noise caught our attention. The rustle of leaves was followed by a small, unusual, but unmistakable cough. Our resident prickly friend could be seen ambling along the hedgerow with her adorable gait, but every now and then she would stop and cough. We thought nothing of it at first, but it persisted, and persisted, until we could ignore it no longer... we needed to check she was okay. Fortunately we have friends from university who have rescued and cared for a number of our native species and so we able to send them a recording of the noise the little hog was making. Both Jamie and Sarah (thanks both!) suggested that we take the hedgehog to the vet in the morning for her to be given a health check. This was especially important as a bad cough can be a symptom of lungworm in hedgehogs, a potentially fatal infection.

PSA! - All vets have a duty of care to all wild animals. If you find an injured or sick animal you can take it to any vet where it will receive the correct treatment and care before given to the relevant organisation e.g. Hedgehog helpline or the BCT, or handed back to yourself (if you request) to be put back where you found it.

The first step was to catch the hedgehog, fortunately our hog was being rather sedentary tonight. As I ran back inside to fetch a towel (do not try to pick up a hog with bare hands, it will hurt!), Alex kept watch to make sure the hedgehog didn't make a run for it, but it didn't, instead she just went over to have a drink from the pond, meaning I could easily scoop her up into the towel and bring her inside. After consulting hedgehog helpline's advice for looking after an injured hedgehog we placed her in a high-sided cardboard box with a small towel; water; and hedgehog food. We debated the best way to close the box to keep the hedgehog feeling secure, but whilst keeping a plentiful supply of fresh air, and settled on using a tea towel to cover the top of the box. So at approximately 10pm at night we found ourselves putting our hedgehog friend to 'bed' upstairs in the office and returning back downstairs to watch TV for a short while before heading to bed. We decided to move the hog back downstairs again as it was a little cooler and less stuffy.

Skip forward to about 4:30am. Alex wakes from a strange dream in which someone was trying to break into the house and she couldn't go back to sleep. I went downstairs to check that everything was okay, only to hear the noise of a small animal scurrying around the house. clearly we had not accounted for our hedgehog being a young Houdini. She had tipped over her water to make the bottom of the box soft and then dug her way out! Unfortunately the hedgehog, obviously, didn't realise we only wanted to help so hid herself under and behind the chest of drawers beside our front door. Moving them was no small task, however needs must. So with the chest of drawers moved and the hedgehog safely back wrapped in a towel there was only one place to put her. In the bath.

So picture the scene. It's 5am. Towel laid flat in the bath. Hedgehog, water bowl, food bowl, box to hide under all in the bath. Very tired Ethan and Alex saying goodnight. Finally to bed once more.

In the morning I took the hedgehog to the vet at 8am when they opened. Due to COVID they were not able to see me immediately, but took the hedgehog in with them and said they would give me a call once she had been able to be seen. The vet's cursory glance suggested that everything was going to be okay, and indeed that was the case an hour or so later when I went to collect her. Her lungs sounded good, with no suggestion of lungworm, a fantastic result. She was given broad spectrum antibiotics to clear any lurking infection, and flea powder because why not!?

Back home, just over 12 hours later and the hedgehog was ready to be released. Of she went, happy to be released from her little adventure and ready to go back to living her little hedgehog life. We are happy to say that we have seen her since, although not quite as often, and she seems healthy with no cough.

A happy ending to a lovely little adventure.