We’ve had a very sad case today, a male hoglet, weighing 162g, came in after being found laying on a patio near a back door.
He was very floppy, dehydrated and smelled strongly of smoke. While I was checking him over, I discovered there was something wedged in the roof of his mouth. Upon removing the obstruction, it was found to be a rolled section of Rizla cigarette paper packet, presumably used as a filter, and tobacco.
It would appear this poor little fella has been so hungry that he was eating cigarette ends, and had got one stuck in the roof of his mouth.
He was given subcutaneous fluids and placed into one of the ICU’s, but sadly died shortly after arrival.
There has been a lot of coverage about discarded cigarette ends, and the damage they cause to wildlife, and this little fella has become part of those statistics.
