A homeowner in West Norfolk was more than a little surprised to find a seal pup in their garden - four miles inland.
A homeowner in West Norfolk was more than a little surprised to find a seal pup in their garden - four miles inland.
The pup, who is thought to be at least three weeks old, was found in a garden in Terrington St Clement, King's Lynn on Wednesday December 19 by the shocked homeowner.
After doing a double take, the homeowner called the RSPCA and animal collection officer (ACO) Naemi Kilbey was sent to collect the moulted white coated pup.
Miss Kilbey said: 'When the call first came through I was wondering if there had been a misunderstanding as to how far inland this pup had been found, but it turned out this little pup really was miles from the sea.
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'He was found in the garden in an area surrounded by agricultural farmland and there was definitely no sign of the sea or a beach.
'We think that he may have travelled up a drainage system possibly and that's how he ended up where he was, but the water system only literally had two inches of water in it, so this poor pup must have just kept trying to travel further and further down in the hope of finding water or food.
'He was an incredibly feisty little fella and it took all my strength to catch and rescue him, but it would have been his spirit and fight for life, that would have kept him alive during his ordeal.
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'The pup has been taken to our RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre. I'm so glad that this was a happy ending and that the pup was found. He really was quite a character.'
RSPCA East Winch centre manager Alison Charles said: 'We hope he should be fine now, he will spend a few days with us where we can continue to monitor him and feed him up, then the plan will be to release him back to Wash and this time hope he doesn't take a wrong turn.
'Seals are incredibly strong and powerful wild animals and can have a very powerful bite which can cause horrible wounds. And we want to remind people to always stay away from seals, no matter where you find them.'
For more information visit the seal pup page on the RSPCA's website.
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