Elizabeth
suddenly noticed something odd on the TV set which, as usual, was showing
the inside of the nest box. From the record, we can now see that a cat
was sitting on top of it.
Clearly,
the chicks realised that there was something wrong - they are all huddled
down into the nest cup.
The
cat then leant forward to look into the box.
This
is the image that Elizabeth had seen and which caused her to get so excited!
And
this shows what the strange object being inserted into the box was - the
cat's paw!
"What's
the fuss - I only want to play with them!"
By this time, I had found the back door key and unlocked it so that I could run out into the garden shouting at the cat!
"All
right then - I know when I'm not wanted!"
It's
over a minute before Babe feels it's safe to come to investigate.
Not
surprisingly, the chicks are still in a state of shock and are keeping well
down.
Whatever
Babe said seemed to do the trick and only 15 seconds later a chick is bold
enough to have a look out.
However, it wasn't bold enough to leave the nest box quite yet and returns to the familiar comfort of the inside.