A hedgehog is recovering after being rescued when she fled her nest with her babies.
A passerby noticed three young men standing over the mother, who was carrying one of her babies in her mouth, near North Street Parade, Sudbury, and filming her on their mobile phones.
The hedgehogs had been nesting near Girling Street when they were thought to have been disturbed by noise from nearby roadworks and the mother fled carrying her babies to find a safer location to nurse them in.
The passerby rescued the mother and baby and took the terrified animals to Suffolk Prickles, a hedgehog rescue centre based in Stonham Aspal, where they are slowly recovering.
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The mother was believed to have been nursing three babies and searches have been carried out by volunteers and the Sudbury Community Wardens.
Their chances of survival had been looking unlikely but another baby has now been found four days later and reunited with the mother.
People living in nearby flats close to the original nest found the other hoglet and brought it to Suffolk Prickles where he was placed in intensive care before being reunited with his mother.
Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue was founded in October 2010 and provide rescue, care, and rehabilitation for sick, injured or orphaned hedgehogs with the aim of releasing such hedgehogs back into the wild wherever possible.
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A spokesman for Suffolk Prickles Hedgehog Rescue said: “If a nest is disturbed, the mother will move to a safer place. We believe she had three babies who are about three weeks old but we can’t find the other one.
“The ‘mum’ was very traumatised to start with but she settled eventually in the early hours of the morning. There were no injuries and she was feeding her baby the day after which is a good sign.
“The second baby found was surprisingly well given the time he had not been with his mother - he would not have survived much longer.
“They should make a full recovery but they were highly stressed.
“These are gentle wild creatures and shouldn’t be interfered with.”
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