After a noisy night-time entrance through the cat flap, a young owl has made itself at home with South Canterbury man Rory Foley and his cat.
"He seems very happy with me, he seems very safe. And I think I'm just his guardian until he can grow up a little bit," Rory tells Guyon Espiner.
Mr Hoot - a young owl who has made itself at home in a South Canterbury house Photo: Rory Foley
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Rory Foley - the chosen 'dad' of a young owl named Mr Hoot Photo: YouTube screenshot
Rory and his "supreme ruler of the universe" cat live in the country town of Pleasant Point where he is currently restoring a 19th-century manor.
Around three months ago, he was scraping a bedroom window when he heard a "little chat" from the nearby walnut tree, which turned out to be a young owl.
"The next couple of days he'd jst be sitting on a window sill and I was like 'oh, that's cool."
"Then a couple of weeks ago there was a bang and a crash and a smash and he started coming in through the cat flap.
"We were just sitting there watching TV – my cat and I – and all of a sudden he pops into the lounge and onto the couch and just started watching TV with us."
Mr Hoot, as Rory has named the bird, is a 'little owl' – an introduced species that is protected in New Zealand.
"Last night we went out on to the lawn and he ate bugs for a good half hour. then we went into the office and he sat on the chandelier while I did some quotes for my guys."
Although Rory is "kind of being the dad at the moment" to Mr Hoot, he is also training him to go outside as owls cannot legally be kept as pets in New Zealand.
Rory is currently building the owl his own little house in the walnut tree where he first appeared.
Watch Rory Foley on The Project: