Lost Pigeon Rescued By Navy In Atlantic Ocean

A racing pigeon which got lost at sea is to be reunited with her owner after she was saved 300 miles (483km) out in the Atlantic Ocean by the crew of a Royal Navy frigate.

The exhausted bird was wrongly named Paul by crew members when she landed on the deck of HMS Somerset a week ago.

Since then she has been fed and watered and received much attention from the 185 men and women on board.

Leading Seaman William Hughes, an ex-pigeon fancier, caught the bird, checked it over and discovered that it was in fact female.

He said: "It was a stroke of luck that Paul found Somerset. "She will certainly have a few sea stories to tell her fellow pigeons."

Lieutenant Mark Gilbert, the ship's flight commander, said: "The Royal Navy is used to saving life at sea and providing assistance to those in need. Caring for a lost pigeon seems like a natural extension to our versatile capability."

The bird's ID ring allowed the crew to track down owner Gil Hartshorn, 75, from Redcar, Cleveland, who said she had been released for a cross-Channel race from France.

Mr Hartshorn, a retired welder, will be reunited with the pigeon next week when Leading Seaman Hughes goes on leave in the Midlands.

Paul regained her strength by eating breakfast cereal and staying in a makeshift coop alongside a Merlin helicopter in the frigate's hangar.

Mr Hartshorn said: "I would like to say thank you to the crew of HMS Somerset for looking after my distressed pigeon, particularly the captain who agreed to have a lost soul on board until the ship returned alongside."

He said the bird will now be retired from racing, adding: "I'd be too worried she would land on the next Royal Navy warship and I'd never see her again.

Clever cat double high-fives owner in heart-warming video

Hot on the heels of a bumblebee high-fiving a drunk man comes another affectionate animal video.

While the bumblebee high-five was a moment of spontaneity, this cute pair have clearly practised their heart-warming routine.

Standing upright on a chair opposite his owner, the feline extends both his paws for the celebratory hand gesture.

Finishing with a double high-five, the animal lover then rewards the clever cat with a treat for his role in creating the adorable clip.

But is it better than this cat sitting on a fence like a human? We’ll let you be the judge of that. 

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Ungrateful parrot tells rescuer to ‘b***er off’ and yells ‘oi’ when vet examines it

What follows is really rather a crude story, so we’ve tried to give it a veneer of respectability by dressing it up in verse. Ahem…

A kindly gentleman saw a parrot, wandering in the street.

He decided he would help to set it on its feet.

Was it grateful? Was it hell – ‘b***er off’ the parrot yelled.

It’s not the kind of greeting you expect when you’re trying to rescue someone – especially a member of another species.

But it seems the runaway African Grey spotted staggering about in the middle of the road in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, just didn’t want to be helped.

It repeatedly uttered the same curse at the man and tried to bite him when he went to pick it up.

He eventually managed to wrestle it into his car and took it to the town’s White Cross Vets, where it adopted a similarly hostile attitude towards staff.

‘The parrot is wearing a leg ring but we were unable to check it for a while because it was angry and kept shouting “oi!” at us,’ said Hayley Thompson, who examined it.

The bird has calmed down since its rescue and is in good health.

The vets are using the ID number on the leg ring to try to find out who it belongs to.

As parrots learn words from listening to the people around them, they might be in for an earful if they manage to get the owner on the phone.

Or it could be that the unfortunate bird-lover is like Fast Show character ‘Unlucky Alf’, who buys a parrot and finds it is only able to utter swearwords.