A hedgehog that was rescued from a lit bonfire has sadly succumbed to his injuries.
The creature was discovered in the bonfire in England after his spikes had already caught fire and eventually taken into care by the RSPCA.
He unfortunately did not survive being burned by the fire.
The RSPCA’s Anthony Joynes shared a photo of the hedgehog on Twitter last week, urging people to keep animals in mind when building bonfires.
Anyone considering lighting a Bon fire over the next few days please take a moment to consider 🦔. Don’t build your Bon fire until shortly before you light it & when you do only light one corner first to give these guys a chance to get up & escape. Have a safe weekend all 👍 pic.twitter.com/svda8W430p
— Anthony Joynes (@joynes85) November 2, 2018
He said that, ideally, bonfires should be built not long before they are lit.
As well as this, the fire should be lit on one corner first to give animals like hedgehogs a chance to escape.
Joynes later confirmed in the Twitter thread that although he hadn’t been looking after that particular hedgehog, he had heard that the animal had sadly died.
Halloween may be over for us this year, but keeping animals in mind who may be hiding to keep out of the cold is always important.
Cats, in particular, could be hiding above car tyres and inside engines, with smaller non-domestic animals like hedgehogs and birds taking up residence lower to the ground.
