A woman found a mother hedgehog and her three babies hidden inside a plastic bag whilst on a farm in Merseyside.
Yesterday, June 28, a member of the public spotted the hedgehog family inside an agricultural tent used for machinery just hours after the mother gave birth to the hoglets.
Kelly, owner of Haydock Hedgehog Helpers Rescue in St Helens said the babies, named Snap, Crackle and Pop, weighed in at 16, 18 and 21 grams and are less than 24 hours old.
READ MORE: Hunt for person who took £70 from cash machine in Asda
Kelly added that if the woman would not have found them on Yew Tree Farm and alerted the rescue, mother Mamma Yew and her babies may have died of heat exhaustion, suffocated or been unknowingly disposed of with the rubbish.
Kelly told the ECHO: "It was a member of the public who messaged me to say they've found a mum and babies in a tent and I was like excuse me, what.
"They said it’s more of a agricultural tent used for machinery. They moved some of the bags and mum was visible in one of the bags that was full of bags as well.
"It’s not uncommon to find hedgehogs with litter in their nest. A study was done and it was looking at how much litter there was in hedgehogs nests and I think it was something like 75% of their nests have litter of some kind in them.
"We're dismantling their natural habitat, taking away verges, using artificial grass and chemicals on grass forcing them to set up home in dangerous and unusual places."
Kelly said that the mother hedgehog would have climbed into the tent and bags herself to create a nest to give birth.
She said: "Probably with the heat we’re having mum would have just died of heat exhaustion and so would the babies. They wouldn't have had anything to eat or drink for the first 24 hours.
"The woman who found them called me and asked what to do and I told her how to put them in a box because if scent of a human is on them the mum is likely to reject them or eat them to restore the energy to give birth to them."
Haydock Hedgehog Helpers Rescue was established two years ago and has since rehabilitated 350 injured and orphaned hedgehogs.
Currently looking after 28 hedgehogs at her own cost, Kelly said there have been other incidents where families of hedgehogs have been found in binbags, mattresses and tangled in football goals by residents unaware that hedgehogs are in the area.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
Kelly said: "At this stage all is looking well. In the wild only 25% of the litter make it out of the nest and then 33% only make it past their first year so the rehabilitation of it is just part of the story.
"At the minute it looks good. As long as the situation continues as it is they should be able to be released in about eight weeks time."
Posting to Facebook, Haydock Hedgehog Helpers Rescue shared a video of the hoglets.
The post reads: "Say hello to three hoglets we have in now (Mamma was weighed and put in the hutch straight away to minimise stress).
"The family were found in a large tent being used to store agricultural equipment, and they were inside a plastic bag filled with other plastic bags. One of the hoglets was already away from Mamma and the other two hoglets, so I’m thinking she is already starting to reject them.
"Hopefully in the safety of a larger outdoor hutch, with quiet and food and water, she’ll take to them again. If not, at this age they stand very little chance being hand reared.
I’ll be keeping my ears open for the hoglets in distress and will intervene if needed, but apart from that I will leave them alone for seven days.
"Mamma is a beautiful ginger colour, and in great condition.
The video was taken when I had quickly weighed each one (16g, 18g, 21g), I wore cotton gloves and minimised contact with them before whisking them back to mamma (maybe two minutes at the most)."
Join our St Helens news, community and Facebook group here.
In response, one person commented: "That's wonderful and an older mum too by the sounds of it.
"I hope she feels more relaxed now she has ready access to food and a safe place to be. Hope you get some sleep, thanks for taking care of them."
Another said: "Hope all goes well!"
And one person posted: "They break your heart, so cute."
To find out more, click here.
Have you got a St Helens story? Email jessica.molyneux@reachplc.com
