THIS sad little otter was found crying and alone on a doorstep after becoming separated from his mum in the carnage caused by Storm Desmond. He is now bouncing back to good health thanks to experts at the Scottish SPCA.
The little guy is only 10 weeks old and was found at the back door of the house in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, on Monday morning.
Staff at the Scottish SPCA centre have taken the cub under their wing and nicknamed him Buddy. The welfare charity is experiencing its busiest year for otter cubs, currently looking after 15.
They said he is still poorly and underweight, but is improving on a diet of bottle-fed milk and hand-fed fish.
Once Buddy is back on his feet, he will be introduced to three other otter cubs recently found without their mothers – named Ebb, Tide and Wave – at the charity’s national wildlife rescue centre in Fishcross, Clackmannanshire.
“They will stay with us for around a year until they are old enough to fend for themselves back in the wild,” centre manager Colin Seddon said.
“This is a very hazardous time for young otters as they can easily be washed out of their holts by high rivers and at that age they are not accomplished swimmers. If separated from their mothers, they may well perish.
“We would appeal to the public to be watchful, especially in areas affected by the recent floods.”
