Campbell Live visits the house-trained seal. Click the view video tab for the story
A baby fur-seal wriggled through the cat door of a Tauranga house, checked out the kitchen and then made itself at home on the couch, all in front of the stunned homeowner.
Annette Swoffer lives a few hundred metres from Tauranga Harbour but a busy road, the closed cat door and stairs proved no barrier for the determined mammal, which made its way inside on Sunday evening.
"It was a very bizarre experience," Ms Swoffer told NZ Newswire.
The seal sniffed around the kitchen, ignored her dog and cats and was on the couch for up to 45 minutes before a Department of Conservation (DOC) ranger arrived to pick it up.
Ms Swoffer said the seal struggled to get through the cat door as there was a bit of noise, but had no problem getting up the stairs and on to the couch in the lounge.
She has no idea why it chose her house and the couch to rest on.
"I am scratching my head as to how on earth it made it through the closed cat door. Maybe it watched the cats go through. It was a clever little seal pup."
She said she was very tempted to touch the "beautiful, shiny animal", but knew seals are wild animals and their bites could contain any number of harmful bacteria.
Seals in the wild have a very strong smell, but Ms Swoffer said the pup did not smell at all, and left no odour on the couch.
DOC was already looking for the seal after earlier reports of it hopping along Ms Swoffer's street.
The pup was eventually coaxed into a net and then released into the Tauranga Harbour.
NZN