The UK's first wildlife hospital, based in Buckinghamshire, made a guest appearance on a popular BBC programme this week.

Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, founded in the 1980s and based in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire is renowned not only as the first establishment of its kind in the UK but as one of the most advanced and expansive animal care providers in the world. 

Although the hospital is by no means short of strings to its bow, a spokesperson for Tiggywinkles shared on its social media pages that the whole team was "very excited" to be featured on an episode of the popular CBBC programme Blue Peter, which aired on Friday, November 3. 

In the episode, guest presenter and host of Junior Eurovision, Lauren Layfield headed out to Haddenham to learn about the precautions that should be taken to ensure the safety of hedgehogs - over 300 of which are currently under the hospital's care - ahead of bonfire weekend. 

Resident vet Steve Smith showed Lauren how the prickly creatures undergo hydrotherapy, exercising their injured limbs by swimming up and down a water tank, and she also got stuck in helping to bandage up a hedgehog's leg and mashing up some cat and dog food for the animals' lunch.

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Steve said hedgehogs getting caught in wood piles that are annually set alight for bonfire night this weekend (November 4 and 5) was unfortunately a common casualty for this time of year.

He urged revellers to move their bonfires after construction to give the animals a chance to scurry away and use a torch to check for hedgehogs immediately before setting the pile aflame.

Steve added: "What's really important is to listen - these hedgehogs make snuffling or huffing noises, so if you hear that or see anything that might be a wild animal (in the wood pile), then please take down the whole bonfire and don't light it."

A spokesperson for Tiggywinkles also praised the BBC production team, writing that the episode had provided an insight into just some of "the lifesaving work we get up to behind-the-scenes".