The pelican that tried to eat the dog who stole his supper

Ever heard the one about the dog and the pelican? In one of the most unlikely power struggles of the animal kingdom, these extraordinary images show the moment when a one-year-old exotic bird bit off more than it could chew.

Captured by Roland Adam at his exotic bird farm in Germany, they show how Petri the pelican and Katijina the Rhodesian Ridgeback played out an improbable contest for a free meal.

'I was preparing food for the birds in our outdoor kitchen, when I noticed Petri at my side looking for a snack,' explained 38-year-old Roland.

'I decided to feed her one of the chicks I had been preparing when Katjinga raced in, caught the frozen bird mid-air and gobbled up Petri's dinner.'

Confused and slightly miffed at losing out on a free meal, Petri decided to search every inch of Katjinga in search of the discarded chick.

'It was hilarious,' laughs Roland.

'We have so many animals on the farm that they are very tame and at ease with each other.

'Katijinga is no different and she was more than happy to allow Petri to come in for closer inspection.'

Roland, who runs an exotic bird farm in Hoerstel near Osnabrueck, which houses everything from ostriches to flamingos, said: "You see a lot of things on my farm but I have never seen anything like this before and I just had to get my camera to prove it was real,' he says.

'But I suppose when it came down to it, Katijinga was just too quick!'

Pictured: Rascal, the spaniel who got too close to a paper shredder

Curiosity may have killed the cat - but Rascal's story shows it doesn't do the dog much good either.

The springer spaniel needed emergency surgery after peering into a paper shredder and setting it off.

The machine's metal jaws bit into the 11-month-old puppy's ear and dragged it in, shredding it like a sheet of paper.

Rascal's horrified owner Jackie Wells managed to switch off the power supply, but not before more than an inch of the dog's right ear had been chewed up.

Mrs Wells, 49, an exam invigilator, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was shredding bills at home when the accident happened.

She said: ' To my horror the machine latched on to his ear and began to grind.

'The shredder has a sensor that switches it on whenever something, usually paper, hovers above it. There must have been a fault with the safety device. As soon as I saw Rascal was stuck I immediately disconnected the machine and called the vet.

'I couldn't believe it, the poor little devil.'

With the help of her son Robert, 25, a commercial pilot, Mrs Wells rushed the dog to the vet with the shredder still attached.

Rascal was given local anaesthetic and painkillers before the vet, Leonard Cooper, could untangle the shredder from his ear.

Mr Cooper, from the Cayton Veterinary Surgery in nearby Smallford, removed the teeth from the electric motor, which enabled him to manually reverse the blades.

However, there was no choice but to amputate part of Rascal's ear. Mr Cooper said: 'It was hard to get the ear out, it was held tightly in place.

'It was a bit gory. The flesh to the ear had, as you would imagine, been cut into tiny strips, just as if it was paper. Fortunately, no harm has been caused to Rascal's hearing and once the hair on his ear has re-grown his ears may be a little lopsided but the injury shouldn't be visible.'

Mrs Wells said yesterday that Rascal was bandaged but making a good recovery at home.
She said: 'He really does live up to his name. He's a nutter, but an adorable dog with a lovely nature.

'He was in shock, but seems unfazed now.'