Family discovers an unexpected animal napping on their porch: a seal pup

You never know what kind of animal you might find right outside your doorstep. Recently, one family got quite a surprise after a very unexpected animal wandered far from home and decided to take a nap on their porch.

According to a Facebook post from New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, a family in Wellington discovered a seal pup outside their home last week, curling up for a cozy nap on their porch:

“It had been on a bit of a mission, climbing up the seawall stairs, crossing a road, hiking up a footpath, a driveway, and finally another set of stairs, before reaching its nap spot,” the Department of Conservation wrote.

“It’s not every day you come home to find a seal curled up on your front porch.”

The creature is a New Zealand fur seal, or kekeno. Despite the name, they are not true seals, and are more closely related to the sea lion.

It’s not uncommon for young seals to pop up like this during this time of year: May through September is known as “seal silly season” in New Zealand, when young pups and adult males leave their colonies.

These seals like to explore the wider world during this period, and locals often find seals in the roadways, public spaces and even their homes.

But the Department of Conservation stresses that this is normal and that the seals should to go about their business without much intervention: “They might look skinny or sick, with weepy eyes and a cough, but this is normal – seals are very resilient animals,” they wrote on Facebook. “Seals need rest, not rescuing.”

However they also said that if a seal is on your property, injured or in danger, it’s best to call the department. In the case of this sleepy porch seal, an officer arrived and relocated it to a safer location away from dogs and traffic.

Related Posts

When my “mute” grandson finally spoke, his first whisper at my kitchen table shattered our quiet babysitting week—and unleashed the most terrifying seven days of my life

My name is Lucinda Morrison, and I was sixty-six years old the October my world turned upside down in our quiet little town just outside Columbus, Ohio….

My Husband Compared Me to His Boss’s Wife and Hired a Maid To Teach Me— So I Became Perfect and Let Him Break

I was shocked when my husband River hired a maid to “teach” me how to cook and clean like the ideal wife. Instead of arguing, I played…

A man is sitting on his porch when he notices two blondes working down the road.

A man is sitting on his porch when he notices two blondes working down the road. They both have shovels. One of the blondes digs a hole,…

A long-haul trucker slid into a booth at a busy highway café

A long-haul trucker slid into a booth at a busy highway café and told the brand-new blonde waitress: “Alright, sweetheart—bring me three blowouts, two high beams, and…

He left me, calling me a failure for being unable to have children, Years later, he got in touch and invited me!

When the invitation arrived, I stared at it for a long time before opening it. Jason’s name on the envelope felt unreal, like a voice from a…

Drunk Guy Gets Pulled Over — The Last Test Seals His Fate

A drunk guy gets pulled over late one night after swerving just a little too much on an empty road. The officer walks up to the window,…