Jon
29-11-2003, 14:20
The fur really flew when this trio were rescued six weeks after being born in a crow's nest.
A postie spotted the mewling kittens peering precariously over the edge of the nest 20ft up a hawthorne tree on Wolverley Road, Woodhouse, Sheffield.
She called RSPCA inspector Matt Bell who borrowed a window cleaner's ladder and scrambled up into the thorny branches.
One by one he ferried them to safety - and their first experience of terra firma.
But the little balls of fluff - who had never been touched by a human before - refused to come quietly and went berserk.
He was also harried by their mother who attacked him twice as he swayed in the branches.
After the youngsters were safely caged Matt turned his attention to the wild adult - but she had fled.
Matt, aged 33, said he had never seen anything like this in 10 years as an RSPCA inspector.
He added: "She certainly picked a safe place for them to be reared out of the way of foxes and stray dogs.
"But after six weeks being fed on her milk they were getting to the stage where they wanted to go out and start exploring - and that could have been fatal.
"They were wild and went absolutely scatty when I went near them, biting and scratching, but they didn't do too much damage. I carried them down by the scruff of the neck, like their mother would.
"Even if they had survived the tree they would have gone wild and would have been more prone to illness and disease, they would have had a grim quality of life.
"But the mother had done a good job, they were pretty healthy. It was important to get hold of them at this age so they can be vaccinated and put up for adoption. Now they have the best possible chance of a happy life."
Matt said the nest would have been abandoned by crows when their young had flown.
The kittens are now experiencing life with all four paws on the ground at the RSPCA centre on Spring Street, Sheffield.
Read all about it (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=699342)
A postie spotted the mewling kittens peering precariously over the edge of the nest 20ft up a hawthorne tree on Wolverley Road, Woodhouse, Sheffield.
She called RSPCA inspector Matt Bell who borrowed a window cleaner's ladder and scrambled up into the thorny branches.
One by one he ferried them to safety - and their first experience of terra firma.
But the little balls of fluff - who had never been touched by a human before - refused to come quietly and went berserk.
He was also harried by their mother who attacked him twice as he swayed in the branches.
After the youngsters were safely caged Matt turned his attention to the wild adult - but she had fled.
Matt, aged 33, said he had never seen anything like this in 10 years as an RSPCA inspector.
He added: "She certainly picked a safe place for them to be reared out of the way of foxes and stray dogs.
"But after six weeks being fed on her milk they were getting to the stage where they wanted to go out and start exploring - and that could have been fatal.
"They were wild and went absolutely scatty when I went near them, biting and scratching, but they didn't do too much damage. I carried them down by the scruff of the neck, like their mother would.
"Even if they had survived the tree they would have gone wild and would have been more prone to illness and disease, they would have had a grim quality of life.
"But the mother had done a good job, they were pretty healthy. It was important to get hold of them at this age so they can be vaccinated and put up for adoption. Now they have the best possible chance of a happy life."
Matt said the nest would have been abandoned by crows when their young had flown.
The kittens are now experiencing life with all four paws on the ground at the RSPCA centre on Spring Street, Sheffield.
Read all about it (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=699342)