What the cat brought in

01.08.11

A cat surprised its owners by bringing in an entire bird’s nest and three live baby birds.

Bella, a five-year-old tortoiseshell cat, deposited the nest in Vikki and Wesley Spencer’s house in Taunton just before midnight last Tuesday, 5 July.

The nest was completely intact with a baby goldcrest sitting inside it.

Vikki said:

"The nest just looked like a bit of tumbleweed lying on the floor, we didn’t know what it was. While we were all looking at it Bella [pictured left] had gone out again and she came back with the two other birds in her mouth and just dropped them on the floor.

"She looked at Wesley as if to say: ‘that’s my nest, what are you doing with it?!’ I couldn’t believe it."

Vikki placed the nestlings in an airing cupboard overnight to keep the birds warm and took them to RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre near Taunton the next morning.

Peter Venn, manager at RSPCA West Hatch, said:

Two of the birds sadly died but one of them is doing very well. I’ve not heard of a cat doing anything like this before but that’s not to say it hasn’t happened!

The remaining goldcrest will be cared for at RSPCA West Hatch until it is old enough to be released into the wild.

The goldcrest is the UK's smallest songbird, with adults standing just 9cm high. These birds are dull green above and buff white below with a distinctive orange or yellow crown stripe. It is found almost wherever there are trees and bushes, especially conifers.

 

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More information

Our wildlife centres took in 16,446 sick, injured or orphaned wild animals during 2010.

 

• Read about our wildlife centres.
   
• Find out what you should do if you find an injured or orphaned wild animal.
   

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