Ferret's rescue from crow attack

Alex Williams saved 'Freddy' from the bird attack

A terrified ferret was rescued after being attacked by 40 crows in the back garden of a house in Conwy.

Student Alex Williams, 20, found the animal - now nicknamed Freddy - after going to investigate the cause of a loud squawking noise outside.

"It was like something out of Hitchcock's film The Birds. The ferret was very frightened," Ms Williams said.

Freddy is now at the RSPCA rescue centre at Bryn y Maen in Colwyn Bay.

Ms Williams was having tea with her family in Old Colwyn when she heard the crows making a noise.

It was obviously tame but very hungry and thirsty Alex Williams

When she went outside she saw the ferret on the lawn being repeatedly dive-bombed by the birds.

"I went out and shooed the crows away and the ferret ran over and started running around my legs," said Ms Williams.

"It was obviously tame but very hungry and thirsty. We fed it chicken and gave it a drink and took it to the RSPCA," she added.

Bird expert Iolo Williams said it was not unusual for crows to attack if they thought there was a threat to their young.

Threat to chicks

"Ferrets can kill crow chicks and as you are never far from a crows' nest it's possible the birds felt they were under threat. As soon as one started to attack the others would join in," he said.

"They might also have been rooks which nest together in a colony," he added.

Animal care assistant with the RSPCA at Bryn y Maen, Angela Willis, said the centre had seven ferrets waiting to be rehomed.

All of them were brought into the home as strays, some having been lost by people using them for rabbiting whilst others had probably escaped out of their enclosures.

"Its quite common for us to have ferrets at the centre throughout the year and the majority of them are pretty friendly," Ms Willis added.

The owner, or someone else willing to give Freddy a home should contact the RSPCA on 0870 0101845.