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

My 5-Year-Old Daughter Stayed with My MIL for the Weekend, Then Told Me, My Brother Lives at Grandmas, but It is a Secret!

When Sophie spent that weekend at my mother-in-law’s house, I expected the usual report: too many cookies, too little bedtime, and a new obsession with whatever toy…

Southwest Airlines Introduces New Policy for Plus-Size Travelers

Southwest Airlines is sparking renewed debate over airline seating and passenger comfort after announcing a policy change that could increase travel costs for some flyers. Critics say…

The dumbest kid in the world.

A young boy enters the barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, “This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it…

For ten years, doctors couldn’t rouse the billionaire… until a poor boy appeared and did the unthinkable

A Decade of Silence in Room 701 For ten years, the man in Room 701 never moved.Machines breathed for him.Monitors blinked steadily. Doctors came and went. Specialists…

An Elderly Man Sat Alone on a Foggy Pier—Then a Police Dog Ran Straight to Him and Transformed the Moment

Alone on the Foggy Pier At the far end of the pier, Rafael Moreno sat on a weathered wooden bench, staring into the gray stretch of water…

A Kind Gesture Toward a Stranger Led to an Unexpected Moment

I am a single mother in my fifties, working long overnight shifts to keep a small apartment warm and food on the table for my teenage son….