The owl and the pussy cat who are best of friends

Everyone knows it as a nonsense poem – but this owl and pussy cat really are inseparable. They may not have been to sea in a beautiful pea green boat, but Edward Lear could have written his 19th-century classic The Owl And The Pussycat just for them.

The unlikely bond was forged after a litter of abandoned kittens was handed in to a bird of prey sanctuary. Despite being fair game for owls, one of the litter has become firm friends with Nigel, a white-faced scops owl.



Staff said Nigel would normally fancy an animal the size of the black-and-white kitten, named Podge, for lunch, but that seems to be the last thing on his mind. ‘A lorry driver found the kittens in the road and not knowing what to do with them he brought them to us,’ said Kim Kirkbride of the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover, Hampshire.

‘I offered to look after them but Nigel seems to have got a bit attached to one of them. They’re the best of friends.’ The rest of the kittens will rehomed through the Cats Protection League but Ms Kirkbride said: ‘Podge and Nigel get on so well, I’d be heartbroken to split them up.’