Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Animals
While the Loch Ness monster still hogs headlines, Scotland's wild places harbour a wide
variety of animals. Britain's largest land animal, the red deer, is present in numbers, as is
the more common roe deer. You'll see them if you spend any time in the Highlands: some
are quite content to wander down the village street in the evening and crop at the lawns.
Otters are found in most parts of Scotland,
around the coast and along salmon and trout
rivers. The best places to spot them are in the
northwest, especially in Skye and the Outer
Hebrides. The piers at Kyle of Lochalsh and
Portree are otter hotspots, as the otters have
learned to scavenge from fishing boats.
Scotland is home to 75% of Britain's red-
squirrel population; they've been pushed out in most of the rest of the country by the
dominant greys, native to North America. The greys often carry a virus that's lethal to the
reds, so measures are in place to try to prevent their further encroachment.
Other small mammals include the Orkney
vole and various bats, as well as stoats and
weasels. The blue mountain hare dwells in
high mountain environments, and swaps a
grey-brown summer coat for a pure-white
winter one.
Rarer beasts that were slaughtered to the
point of near-extinction in the 19th century in-
clude pine martens, polecats and wildcats. Populations of these are small and remote, but
are slowly recovering thanks to their protected status and greater awareness.
Of course, most animals you'll see will be in fields or getting in your way on single-
track roads. Several indigenous sheep varieties are still around, smaller and stragglier than
the purpose-bred supermodels to which we're accustomed. Other emblematic domestic
animals include the Shetland pony and gentle Highland cow with its horns and shaggy
reddish-brown coat and fringe.
The waters off Scotland's north and west coasts are rich in marine mammals. Dolphins
and porpoises are fairly common, and in summer minke whales are regular visitors. Orcas,
too, are regularly sighted around Shetland and Orkney. Seals are widespread. Both the At-
lantic grey (identified by its Roman nose) and the common seal (with a face like a dog)
are easily seen along the coasts and, especially, the islands.
One of the best-loved pieces of Scottish wildlife
writing is
Ring of Bright Water
by Gavin Maxwell,
in which the author describes life on the remote
Glenelg peninsula with his two pet otters in the
1950s.
A beautifully written book about Scotland's wild-
life, penned by a man who lived and breathed
alongside the country's critters in a remote part of
the Highlands, is
A Last Wild Place
by Mike
Tomkies.
