Electra the lucky hedgehog

This little hedgehog got the shock of its life after getting stuck under an electric fence for three hours where it was zapped more than 500 times.

The spiny character wandered underneath the fence at a Norfolk pig farm and was hit with a charge, causing it to curl up into a defensive ball.

But the little hog was too scared to unfurl and continue on its ambling journey because, as its body remained in contact with the wires, the jolts kept coming every 20 seconds.

There it stayed until it was discovered by the farmer who owned the fence after he went to investigate when he thought wet reeds growing against it had been shorting it out.

But instead of damp leaves he found the balled-up hedgehog with the wire across its back and after rescuing it from the fence discovered it could not walk.

He rushed it 20 miles to Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue Centre in Hemsby where it was examined by husband and wife team John and Tonia Garner and found to be a female. John said: “When she came into us she was dragging herself along with her front legs and just dragging her rear legs. The electric current was probably passing through her back and back legs making her temporarily lose the use of them.

“We made a new cage up for her and we weren’t sure what we’d find the next morning but the first thing we saw was virtually all the food we’d given her had been eaten. And the following day she was walking about.”

John and Tonia named the hedgehog Electra after her shocking experience - with the alternative name of Voltemort had it been a male - and said she had made a “remarkable recovery” since being brought to them on October 14.

John added: “We’ve had all sorts but we haven’t had a hedgehog that’s been electrocuted. She had a lucky escape.”

Electra is keeping up her appetite and has put on plenty of weight since being rescued but continues to be fattened up until she tips the scale at 600g (1.5lb) when she will then be released into a safe environment - well away from electric fences.