A “well-meaning” British animal lover has been left red-faced after rescuing what she thought was a baby hedgehog – only to find out it was something rather less needy.

The woman picked up the “hedgehog” from the side of the road one morning last week.

She kept it overnight in a box, and even provided a plate of food for the ailing “animal”, according to reports on Britain’s Independent newspaper.

The next morning, the woman rushed her find to the nearby Lower Moss Nature Reserve and Wildlife Hospital in Cheshire – only to be told that, rather than a distressed infant animal, it was actually the pom pom from a beanie hat.

“She didn’t handle it at all – she scooped it in a box with some cat food and left it alone in a warm, dark place,” veterinarian Janet Kotze told the paper.

“She did everything so well. She barely peeked at it because she didn’t want to stress it out.”

The rescue group posted a photo of the decorative ball on social media, showing it nestled in a box beside a bowl of food.

“This adorable ‘hoglet’ still got all the love, complete with some cosy TLC”, the charity tweeted.

“Sometimes, even the most heart-warming stories start with a hilarious twist!”

Kotze said the woman who made the rescue was in her “60s or 70s” with “well-meaning” intentions. Kotze said she knew immediately when she saw what was in the box that it wasn’t a hedgehog.

“I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. I thought ‘it’s definitely not a hedgehog, perhaps it’s some other kind of a fluffy creature’.

“I realised it wasn’t animated at all and I picked it up and, obviously with the weight, I could feel that it wasn’t a hedgehog or any animal at all.”

Kotze closed up the box, and told the woman “it’s actually a bobble off a bobble hat”.

“She said, ‘You’re joking! Oh my goodness, how did I do that?’,” she said.

“She was so concentrated on doing the right thing. She was concerned it hadn’t moved or even pooed – that would be spooky if it had.”

Tweet from @Specsavers

The wildlife hospital wrote of the rescue attempt on Facebook, “Our hearts melted as a kind soul thought she was rescuing a baby hedgehog”.

Despite the mistake, the reserve shared said its “adorable” visitor “still got all the love, complete with some cosy TLC”. Meanwhile, its finder made a hasty retreat.

“She was very embarrassed, she was very sweet, bless her, her heart was in the right place. She took the box from me and left quite quickly,” Kotze said.

“I don’t think she’ll make the same mistake again, I think she’ll check next time.”