Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital takes in unusual hedgehog

The charity is currently caring for a blonde hedgehog!

Author: Henrietta CreaseyPublished 4th Jan 2021
Last updated 4th Jan 2021

The 'out of the ordinary' underweight male juvenile arrived at Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital on Boxing Day after being found near Calne.

The charity says as his eyes are dark not red, he's classed as a 'blonde' rather than 'albino' hedgehog.

The unusual colouring is caused by a recessive gene.

Some people have wrongly confused the little fella with the domestic African Pygmy hedgehog but Marilyn Korkis who runs the charity says albino and blonde hedgehogs "although rare are out in the wild existing right under our noses."

The rare hedgehog is being nursed back to health at the charity's base in Newton Tony.

The charity has around 250 regular hedgehogs in its care, last year it helped more than 1500.

It's also been pretty busy over the festive period with a host of animals.

Last month Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital launched an appeal to raise funds for new facilities. with support from Dame Judi Dench. So far more than £5,000 has been raised

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