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 aย Facebook post from New Zealandโs 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:
โIt 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,โ the Department of Conservation wrote.
โItโs not every day you come home to find a seal curled up on your front porch.โ
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.
Itโs not uncommon for young seals to pop up like this during this time of year: May through September isย known as โseal silly seasonโ 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: โThey might look skinny or sick, with weepy eyes and a cough, but this is normal โ seals are very resilient animals,โ they wrote on Facebook. โSeals need rest, not rescuing.โ
However they also said that if a seal is on your property, injured or in danger, itโs 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.
What an adorable little seal! What a moment it would be to find that outside your front door!
Please share this story if you love animals!ย 
Source: https://bascodeal.com/2023/12/24/family-discovers-an-unexpected-animal-napping-on-their-porch-a-seal-pup/