From Iceland — Mundi The Puffin: A Shrimp Eating Blind Sweetheart Who Stole Our Hearts

Mundi The Puffin: A Shrimp Eating Blind Sweetheart Who Stole Our Hearts

Published May 17, 2017

Elías Þórsson
Photo by
Mundi Lundi

There are so many tacky puffin dolls everywhere that you kind of forget that puffins are actually really cute sea birds (also who buys this shit?). But enter Mundi Lundi, our most adorable newest friend, who has reminded us that there is a reason why the puffin dolls are everywhere.

“We found him injured by the end of April lying beside a busy street in Reykjavík, people were just walking straight past him, or stopping to take a picture before leaving,” explains puffin protector Ásrún Magnúsdóttir. “He seems to have flown headfirst into a car, breaking his beak and cracking his skull.”

Ásrún wrapped the young puffin in a towel and took him to the vet. The vet, however, claimed that the only thing that could be done for him was to put him down.

“It didn’t feel right to put him down, his wings and legs looked so strong that I wanted to give him a shot at getting better.”

Mundi the puffin page

Magnúsdóttir took Mundi in and started nursing him back to health. She had never taken care of a puffin before, but fell head over heels for the little guy, and started sharing his recovery story on his very own Facebook page.

Despite the terrifying accident, Mundi seems to be regaining his strength and healing up nicely, that is, almost.

“He has recovered really well and we think he’s ready to be released back into the wild, except … he seems to be completely blind.”

According to Ásrún, Mundi walks into walls and off tables and prefers to be hand fed, as he has a hard time finding his food bowl.

“We are holding out hope that his sight will return and that he’ll be able to return to the wild,” she says. “But until then he gets to live the high life, take baths and eat as much shrimp as he can handle.”

Pet puffin

Should you be interested in rescuing a puffin, you’ll be happy to know that apparently they are nice, friendly and quiet pets.

“He is surprisingly easygoing and the only time he makes a sound is when he’s annoyed. Then he produces this burpy, nagging noise,” says Ásrún. “The only real issue is that he shits a lot and smells like the ocean.”

On his Facebook page you can watch him take baths, use eye cream and gorge on shrimp, as he takes webbed steps towards becoming a free bird once again. Apparently he’s also a huge Eurovision fan. 

 

Posted by Mundi Lundi – Mundi the Puffin on Saturday, May 6, 2017

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