A police officer came to the rescue of a hedgehog in a tight spot overnight when it got stuck in a takeaway milkshake cup.
Sergeant Andrew Russ found the critter "staggering" around the streets of Hawera with a plastic cup stuck on its head around 4am.
"Once I pulled the hedgehog free it then became apparent that it may not have been after the contents of the cup," he says.
"There was a snail inside who may have consumed some of the shake and was now being hunted for its shake flavoured aroma."
It's the second time Hawera police have saved a hedgehog from a sticky situation with another one of the animals separated from a plastic cup in April 2013.
Another hedgehog was saved from a prickly situation in Nelson last year after wandering along a road blind with a McFlurry container stuck on its head.
Sgt Russ said both the hedgehog and the snail were released safe and well.
3 News
source: newshub archive