Two otter cubs have been rescued after they were found "wandering down the street" by a woman putting out her bins.
The Scottish SPCA are caring for the young creatures, who were spotted running down a road in Inverkeithing, Fife, earlier this month.
The four-month-old cubs are thought to have lost their mother, and would have died without intervention. The charity says that both are doing well and will be released once they have reached an age where they can care for themselves.
The cubs are now in the care of the National Wildlife Rescue Centre.
The young animals are returning to health
Centre manager Steven Gray said: “We suspect their mum was involved in a road traffic accident or some form of disturbance and didn’t return to her cubs so they have gone looking for her.
“They were seen wandering down the road in Inverkeithing on Saturday night.
READ MORE: Scottish SPCA appeals for donations of fox cub food
“The female cub was spotted by someone taking their bins out. She was making very loud peeping noises which was probably her trying to call for her mum. The members of the public followed at a safe distance to a nearby field where they were able to monitor her until we arrived."
He added: “The pair wouldn’t have survived on their own as they rely on mum so we are thankful the members of the public contacted us.
The female has been named Inver and the male has been called Forth.
Mr Gray added: “They will stay with us until they are around 12 to 14-months-old, just like with mum in the wild. We will teach them how to feed and take care of themselves and will release them when they are ready.
READ MORE: SPCA warn after pets snatched by bogus inspectors
“Otters are very agile and can have a nasty bite so we would ask members of the public not to approach them as they can react negatively out of fear.
"They can see humans as a threat, especially when they are feeling vulnerable, so we would advise monitoring the animal and contacting us."
Mr Gray said: "We have the necessary safety equipment to carefully contain otters and we are experienced in doing so. We wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt or an animal to be caused undue stress.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here