Scottish rescue centre puts roly-poly hedgehogs on diet
A Scottish animal rescue centre forced a dozen hedgehogs to go on a diet because they had grown too fat to roll into a ball to protect themselves, it said yesterday. The prickly animals had to lose weight before being released back into the wild by the...
A Scottish animal rescue centre forced a dozen hedgehogs to go on a diet because they had grown too fat to roll into a ball to protect themselves, it said yesterday. The prickly animals had to lose weight before being released back into the wild by the Scottish Wildlife Rescue Centre, which had taken them in over the winter.
"The hedgehogs first came in to our care last December, but they only started to show signs of piling on the pounds in late January," said centre manager Colin Seddon in a statement announcing their release.
"They have lost a bit of weight as a result of us rationing their daily cat food, but we've left them with some fat reserves because it looks as though we aren't out of the cold snap just yet," he added.
In comments to the BBC he explained: "They need fat for hibernation but when they get too much fat then they're not able to roll into a little tight ball which makes them very vulnerable to predators like badgers and foxes."