A young puffin found on a pavement outside a post office
in Kent has been released into the wild after being nursed back to health by the
RSPCA.
The bird was spotted by a man in Strood on 11 November and taken to a local
vet before being transferred to the RSPCA's Mallydams Wood in East Sussex. Manager Bel Deering said the puffin, nicknamed Pat, had been "rather weak and
wobbly" but had no injuries. It was released back out to sea on the high tide at Pett Level beach.
Ms Deering said it had been fed a diet of fresh sand eels and sprats, and was
given regular dips in the centre's pool. She said it was a "bit of a mystery how it ended up sickly and stranded in
Strood" and that the pavement outside a post office was "an unusual habitat for
a puffin".
"As puffins are normally found further north than Medway, Pat is an
exceptional admission for us and has raised a lot of interest among staff and
volunteers," she said. An RSPCA spokesman added that the puffin had been "nicknamed Pat after the
world's favourite postman".
2 comments:
Many puffins are Fratercula Arctica which is from the Latin for "little brother"; supposedly a reference to their black and white plumage, analogous to monastic robes. Basically puffins look like monks. Don't get me started on F. corniculata which is a horny puffin.
Heh heh, I had to check that F. corniculata existed! :)
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