Wildlife ambulance responded after baby hedgehog found entangled in Christmas bauble

A wildlife ambulance was called to a pub in Isfield, East Sussex to rescue an injured baby hedgehog after it was found entangled in a Christmas tree decoration. It was on site within 30 minutes, where rescuers then assessed the hedgehog’s condition. East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service rescuer and carer Kathy Martyn, said: "At first it looked like there was a crab apple of something stuck on the hedgehog’s spines, but on closer inspection you could see it was plastic and attached.



"We found that the object was a Christmas bauble with a hanging loop for attaching to Christmas trees, which was caught round her body." Trevor Weeks, founder of East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service, said the hanging loop had caught around its body when it was smaller, and would have killed it. "You could smell the infection and obviously the hedgehog had got her head and left leg through the loop when she was much smaller and as she had grown the loop became more and more tight.

"This would have eventually killed the baby hedgehog if it had been left so was extremely lucky to have been found and saved thanks to the observant staff at the Laughing Fish Pub. I have never seen such an unusual cause of a ligature wound and pressure necrosis on a wild animal before. We see similar wounds caused by elastic bands, snares and netting but not caused by a Christmas bauble before."


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Veterinary Nurse Jenny Pike and vet Chris Hall attended to the her. She was given an general anaesthetic in order to clean and treat her wounds better. The hedgehog now named “Izzy”, has been admitted to the service's casualty care centre at Whitesmith. She will need daily monitoring and her wounds cleaning. Staff hope she is strong enough to survive the treatment and that they can control the infection.