A baby seal with a nosy nature snuck inside a house in New Zealand, upsetting the family’s cat and spending some comfortable time in the hallway.
On Wednesday morning, the Ross family had an unexpected guest. Coincidentally, Phill Ross works as a marine biologist at the University of Waikato.
The Ross family lives near the beach.
He lives with his wife Jenn and their two kids, Noah and Ari, just 164 yards from the beach where they frequently spot seals.
According to them, seals are relatively abundant around this time of the year.
The seal made it through the door via the cat flap, either by the front door or on the garage door.
That’s one smart seal.
“I came through the garage and it’s like oh there’s some buckets out of place,” Jen recalled. “Oh maybe it’s the cat and then I came on through to go into the house and I bumped into something as I went to open the next door and I hear this flippity flop along the hallway.”
As she heard the sound, she knew instantly it was a seal. The seal, according to Phil, is a 10-month-old New Zealand fur seal.
An unwelcome visitor to the cat
It entered the home and started tormenting the family cat.
Was the cat innocent?
Phil thought the cat could be mostly to blame. Their cat, Coco, is quite territorial in nature and she will even chase after dogs.
Phil believes that Coco might have triggered the seal to chase her back into the house.
To prove his point, Coco ended up hiding at their neighbor’s house, extremely terrified to come back home.
And even when they finally got her back home, the cat refused to come down the stairs where the seal was.
We may not know what exactly happened, but it sure traumatized the poor kitty.
Jen broke the news to the family.
They even named the seal Oscar.
The pup stayed inside the house for almost 90 minutes before Jenn ushered it outside, where a ranger from the Department of Conservation eventually caught it.
At this time of year, baby seals frequently find themselves on strange stretches of beach.
The little ones are beginning to wean themselves, are moving out on their own, and, like other teens, are capable of making poor judgments.
Storms usually bring the seals out.
Numerous seals are swarming on the beach to rest and recover after the last storm that took place.
This particular seal opted to wander across the sand dunes because it was apparently in good shape.
The population of New Zealand fur seals is increasing and has begun to recolonize much of its old territory.
Seals are adorable, but they can act rapidly and cause terrible harm if they feel threatened. They also spread contagious diseases.
The Department of Conservation advises avoiding making loud noises near them, remaining at least 20 meters away, and keeping children and pets far away from them.
Thankfully, the whole Ross family came out of the ordeal safe and sound. Well, maybe except Coco the cat.
See Oscar having a heyday in the Ross’s home in the video below!
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