Pigeon breaks into home and refuses to leave

By Jessica Hehir-Smith via SWNS

A wild pigeon made its way into a woman's home and refused to leave before staying for the night.

Stephanie Ellesmera was stunned when the pigeon sauntered into her flat and literally made itself at home.

“It was a sunny day so I decided to open the window that leads on to our balcony - no one ever uses it and it was covered in leaves," said designer/illustrator Stephanie, who goes by Steph.

“I went out to take some pictures and noticed a pigeon just sitting in the corner. I didn’t think much of it, but I noticed it kept looking at me."

Stephanie, from London, became distracted with work until, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the pigeon had made its way inside.

“It got curious, hopped inside and started walking around my room. That’s when I started filming - I had no idea what else to do!," she said.

“Eventually I got back to work and it came over and sat on my laptop.”

After a few hours of hanging out with the pigeon, Steph decided to do some research and contact an expert about what to do.

“I found a phone number for a pigeon rescue so I called to ask for advice. I told them that this was probably someone’s pet or at least hand-raised - it didn’t have a ring on its leg though, so that made it complicated," she said.

“The rescue said they were coming the next day so I made a comfy box with towels and let it roam around."

The pigeon spent the night with Stephanie until experts picked her up the next day.

"The rescue have been giving me daily updates on her condition, which I really appreciate," she said.

"They said it's best that she is released into the wild so, as soon as she's fit and healthy, she'll be set free."