One evening, an Englishwoman tried to raise a hedgehog she found. But nothing helped: he didn't even move. When he got help from a vet, it became clear why. “He was very embarrassed,” says the vet.

WWhat you should do if you find a hedgehog these days is easy to find out on the internet. And so the woman, from Cheshire, northwest England, wrapped her find in a cardboard box and placed a plate of cat food next to the tiny creature. But nothing helped: the next morning, nothing fluffy had moved or eaten.

British media reported on Tuesday that she drove excitedly to the nearest hedgehog station, Lower Moss Wood Nature Reserve and Wildlife Hospital in Knutsford. There, he handed the box to veterinarian Janet Kotze. “The woman gave me the box and said that she found a hedgehog on the sidewalk that day,” Kotze told the Mirror newspaper. It was a bit alarming: “Actually, it is still too early for a hedgehog. And they shouldn't be out during the day either.

He opened the box and immediately saw that it couldn't be a hedgehog. Turns out it wasn't alive at all. “When I told the woman it was just a top of the hat, she was very embarrassed.” He quickly took the box and disappeared with it.

“At least her heart is in the right place,” the vet said of the woman, who preferred to remain anonymous. “He basically did everything right except he didn't save the hedgehog.”