Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Officers from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rescued a hedgehog from netting in a resident's backyard.
Society Animal Welfare Officer Matt Brown arrived to rescue the small hedgehog from a house in Liverpool and transported it to Stapeley Grange Wildlife Center.
"The hedgehog had gotten the top half of his body tangled and he had been trying to free himself. When he was found, it looked as though he was running low on energy," Brown said.
Brown said the hedgehog was fortunate that it didn't sustain any major injuries from the incident, as netting can often be harmful to wild animals.
"This hedgehog was very lucky, because sadly we do get called to a lot of incidents where wildlife have got themselves caught in sports netting and as a result suffer fatal injuries from struggling to get themselves free," he said.
Brown warned that nocturnal animals like hedgehogs, foxes and badgers can often become tangled in nets while active during the night and remain trapped there until morning.
He urged residents to put away sports nets after use and replace garden netting, like pond or fruit netting, with solid metal mesh when possible.
