Every day I'm taking so many calls from people who have seen a hedgehog coming out in the open in the day, and have done nothing for 2, sometimes 3 days, because they'd read somewhere that it's normal, it's what hedgehog mums do. This is so wrong and it's killing so many sick animals, condemming them to a slow painful death. A hedgehog coming out in the daytime is always an act of desperation. In the vast majority of cases it’s because the hedgehog is dying, suffering from hypothermia as a stage of that process, and so is seeking the warmth of the sun. It is extremely rare for a healthy hedgehog to be out in the day time. It’s dangerous for them. The only time a hedgehog may be forced to appear in daytime is during the short nights of June and July, when there are not enough hours of darkness to enable the hog to forage sufficient food, and the hedgehog has need of extra nutrition (because she is pregnant or feeding babies). Or their nest has been disturbed and they have to make an emergency bed. This will not happen in a garden where plenty of food is kindly provided nightly and the hedgehog’s nest is undisturbed. And, as it is a desperately dangerous move, it is incredibly rare. Yet because this rare possibility exists, it is clung to when we see a hedgehog out in the day - because: 1. it is comforting: convincing yourself it’s a sweet mum collecting bedding, not a dying animal,  and 2. because it means we don’t have to take any action other than videoing it and sharing it on SM for likes. Sadly this is why so many sick animals, desperate for help, are seen, filmed, then ignored and left to die horribly and slowly. So please, if you you see a hedgehog out in the open in the day, unless they actually have bedding in their mouth, assume he is sick and take him indoors and immediately phone a rescue to ask for advice. A good rescue will ask you all the right questions to ascertain whether the hedgehog needs to come into care for treatment, or can be released. Always take action. Action can be reversed. Inaction can’t. Always grab first, ask questions later. One of the many frustrations of this work is having a caller describe to you an extremely sick hog in urgent need of emergency treatment, only to be told that while talking to you the hedgehog has wandered off.