'Podgy' hedgehog has to be chiselled out of tight spot in Blackpool

RSPCA inspector Will Lamping was called to Primrose Avenue on Friday (July 17) after a dog alerted its owner to the spiky visitor trapped in their garden.

Will said: "A woman had been alerted to the poor hedgehog by a barking dog and found him wedged tight between the concrete fence post and the tree trunk.

"He was on his side so he’d clearly tried to push through the tiny gap and got stuck fast.

"She’d spotted him the previous day and hoped he’d be able to wriggle free but when he was still trapped the following day she decided to call us for help."

They gave the exhausted hog a milk bottle top filled with water so he could have a drink and Will called his colleague, animal collection officer Robyn Morris, for help.

"We tried to push him through head first and then backwards but he was quite podgy and there was no budging him,” Will added.

"We didn’t want to hurt him so then we tried to dig the ground out underneath him and remove some roots to see if we could make any more space but he kept curling up so we just couldn’t manoeuvre him.

"Thankfully, when the landlord arrived it turned out he was a joiner and set to work chiselling away at the tree to widen the gap so we could lift the hedgehog free."

They had been concerned the hedgehog was weak due to the length of time he’d been trapped, so Will and Robyn took him to a vet centre nearby for a check-up.

The vets gave the hog some pain relief and monitored him over the weekend, where he quickly perked up.

The RSPCA officers collected him on Monday (July 20) and returned him to the garden where he had found himself trapped, before releasing him.

"I think she’d got quite attached to him and named him Sonic," Will added.

"It was lovely that she got to release him back into her garden and watch him scuttle off into the bushes. Hopefully, he won’t be trying to squeeze through any tight spots again soon!"

To help the RSPCA keep rescuing animals and keep its animal hospitals and centres running for emergency treatment and round the clock care, please donate whatever you can spare at www.rspca.org.uk/covid.