Yahoo News Terrified kitten hid inside red-hot car engine to avoid being pecked to death by seagulls
A stricken kitten who was being pecked to death by seagulls jumped into a driver’s engine to escape the attack - despite the compartment being red-hot.
The terrified moggy was being dive-bombed and pecked by the birds in Herne Bay, Kent, when driving instructor Alex Holden, 37, pulled over to help.
But when he stopped his car, the scared kitten went beneath Alex’s Ford Fiesta, before it sprang up into the engine compartment.
The kitten - who was nicknamed Tesla - refused to budge, despite the engine being red-hot.
Mr Holden raised the car with a jack in an attempt to coax Tesla out.
He then called the Kent Fire Service for assistance, who sent firefighters armed with thermal imaging cameras.
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Eventually, firefighters could not find the stray kitten after spending more than an hour trying to coax her from inside the Ford Fiesta's engine block.
The adorable kitten had ran away, only to be found a week later, still suffering from her injuries.
Mr Holden’s wife Claire said: “Two pupils messaged the picture over to Alex last Thursday and he said: ‘that’s the kitten, 100 per cent’. She was found in a garden near Albany Drive. They thought she was a ferret.”
But sadly, Tesla - who was thought to have be born to a stray - passed away from her injuries.
Volunteer Jess Kemp managed to grab hold of the kitten before taking her to a vets, but they were unable to save her.
Ms Kemp said: "We were all devastated and absolutely gutted. She had made it through the worst part of the operation, but died under anaesthetic as she was being sewn up."
