A cat shocked her owners by dragging an entire bird’s nest and three live baby chicks into their house.
Bella, a five-year-old tortoiseshell cat, deposited the twig-strewn mess containing a small goldcrest songbird at Vikki and Wesley Spencer’s home in Taunton. Then the feline then came back into the room with two more chicks in her mouth. Sadly, two of the birds later died but the rest are being cared for by the RSPCA
Shocked Vikki, from Taunton, Somerset, 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 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.’‘
The remaining goldcrest will be cared for at RSPCA West Hatch until it is old enough to be released into the wild.
Goldcrests are the UK’s smallest songbird, with adults standing at just 9cm high.
The 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.
Somerset
