Finds a way to permanently protect them from birds of prey.

When you’re making a snack run to the convenience store, it’s pretty normal to come back with more than what you originally planned to buy, right? Just the other day, for example, I stopped by my local shop to pick up a Final Fantasy meat bun, and decided “Hey, while I’m here, I may as well get some Final Fantasy fried chicken too.”

Something similar happened to Japanese Twitter user @BlackBox514, but his unexpected acquisitions weren’t extra munchies. On a recent Sunday afternoon he was craving a Garigari-kun-brand popsicle, but on his way back from the store, he came across three abandoned kittens. That’s already a sad enough situation, but what made the situation really bad was that the feline trio was being menaced by a group of crows.

It should be noted that crows in Japan are much larger than their counterparts in many other countries. Really, they’re closer in size to ravens, with massive, sharp beaks that serve their omnivorous appetites well. With no parent cats around to protect the kittens, @BlackBox514 figured the poor things were going to end up as the crows’ lunch if he didn’t do anything. So he stepped in and chased the ravenous birds off, and once they were gone, this happened.

The three kittens (@BlackBox514 says the third joined in as soon as he stopped recording) formed a line and started following their human savior. You can see @BlackBox514 trying to back away in the video, but they keep following his footsteps, sounding a chorus of tiny, pleading, frightened meows.

As scared as the kittens may have been, though, @BlackBox514 obviously can’t spend his whole life camped out in the field watching over them. So after a few moments trying to think of a solution to the dilemma, he concluded there was only one thing to do…

…and he took all three of the kittens with him, to become permanent residents of his crow-free home.

▼ Checking out their new digs

It’s worth pointing out that research has repeatedly shown crows to be extremely intelligent animals, capable of remembering human faces and holding long-standing, violent grudges, even engaging in revenge attacks against people they deem enemies of their flock. That makes @BlackBox514’s actions not only kind, but brave too, and well-deserving of the praise that’s been heaped upon him in online comments such as:

“How wonderful that you and those kittens could find each other.”
“They must have been so frightened.
“Seeing those cats, who were trying so hard to survive…it brings a tear to my eye.”
“Thank you for saving them. I’m sure something good will happen to you in the future.”

That last comment was probably made as just a half-joke about some sort of nebulous karma, but it turned out that there was an actual, concrete reward waiting for @BlackBox514. Once back home, he finally got to eat that Garigari-kun popsicle, and when he finished, he looked at the stick and the special mark on it entitles the bearer to exchange the stick for another Garigari-kun, free of charge, at any convenience store!

▼ Stick pictured in bottom-right photo

“It’s a thank-you gift from the cats!!!” said an overjoyed @BlackBox514, but really, no matter how tasty that popsicle was, it’s still not anywhere near as sweet as the story of how he met his three new roommates.

Source: Twitter/@BlackBox514 via Hamster Sokuho
Featured image: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!