On 23 December, as the Dwyer family prepared for their Christmas celebrations in Benenden, the young female seal decided to emerge from a stream at the bottom of their garden.
It had swum up the River Rother from Rye in East Sussex but, despite having been spotted a number of times on previous days, had eluded RSPCA officers in their attempts to catch it.
Professor Tim Dwyer, 51, told press how his daughter Harriet, 24, had been out in the snow-covered garden, playing with the family collie Jack, when she was extremely surprised to spot the seal.
Tracks in the snow showed that it had come out of the river.
The family poured out into the garden to see the creature, immediately nicknamed Rudolph by Harriet Dwyer, “looking quite chirpy and slithering around” on the snow.
It then flopped into the garden pond, looking out “in an enchanting way with its eyes just above the water”.
After consuming a few goldfish, the seal exited and made its way over to a herb garden, where the collie’s rounding instincts served to keep the seal in one place while Professor Dwyer rang for the RSPCA and police.
A policewoman duly took down what must have been a very unusual statement, while RSPCA officers successfully coaxed the seal into a transport crate.
It was taken to the RSPCA's Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in Fairlight, Hastings, where it spent Christmas served on hand and foot, with all the food it cared to eat.
Examination of the animal revealed a flipper tag showing that it had been rescued and treated before, at a seal rehabilitation centre at Ostend in Belgium.
Its name was changed to Gulliver by centre staff, reflecting its clear fondness for adventurous travels.
The animal, described as slightly underweight but otherwise healthy, is expected to remain at the centre until late January before release.
It is in the company of another young female seal, rescued after being washed up in a weakened state at Hythe in September.
Related link
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
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