One clever little robin is charming shoppers at a popular department store in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, by getting them to feed it.
The sweet red-breast perches near the self-service bird feed dispensers where the customers give it handfuls of seed.
Staff at The Range have told how the bird, thought to be a male, hops through the automatic doors linking to the outdoor garden.
Once inside, he perches on lawnmower handles or plant pots waiting for a kind-hearted customer to feed him.
However, some unwitting shoppers have been helping themselves to bird feed in the store and have given it to the robin, without paying.
Now, staff have put up signs pleading with customers not to feed the bird.
Paul Weaver the store's office manager said: 'We are aware that some customers have been helping themselves to small quantities of bird food which we sell from self-service dispensers, and feeding the robin, which is why we have posted the signs.
'The customers should, of course, be paying for the bird food. They have been taking only small quantities, and all of it is being offered to the robin, so they have none left to pay for when they arrive at the check-outs.
'The bird arrives, and leaves, during opening hours. We know he always flies out before we close, because we have highly sensitive motion-sensors as part of our security system.
'Even a bird as small as a robin would set off the alarms. We like the robin but we don’t want him to become part of the furniture.
Grahame Madge, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) also warned customers not to feed the bird as it will stop hunting naturally.
He said: 'This robin has probably spotted bird tables in the outdoor garden centre and, when it found no food on them, has ventured into the indoor store in search of food which customers are apparently providing.
source: dailymail
Posts
