Wild animals

[esipats]

Hi for everyone!
Maybe strange question, but I try luck.
Are there in Highlands any wild animals from which I need be careful or avoid them? I mean next month - October.

Have a nice day!

[teaandpies]

There are a few yeah. Keep an eye out for Saber Tooth Rex Bears, Rattle Tail Rabits and Newt Sharks in small lochans.

[esipats]

There are a few yeah. Keep an eye out for Saber Tooth Rex Bears, Rattle Tail Rabits and Newt Sharks in small lochans.

Thank you! I will prepare some biscuits, diet cola and crucefixes for them.

[Water Gypsy]

Hi for everyone!
Maybe strange question, but I try luck.
Are there in Highlands any wild animals from which I need be careful or avoid them? I mean next month - October.

Have a nice day!

Haggis !!!!

[Senja]

Chaffinches!

Still the only wild species to bite me in the wild - it was -10, their usual feeder was away for Christmas, and they had something to tell me.


Seriously - beware of the midge.

[fireman]

Midgies, but you won't have to look for the - they'll find you

[Boris_the_Bold]

It is generally best to avoid big packs of football supporters - they are more feral than wild and can usually be out-run and/or out-smarted, but they can be spooked into aggression if you are wearing bright colours, particularly green or blue in the mid-west and maroon or green in the mid-east.

It is also best not to get between a group of bankers and their favourite bar, particularly late at night - again, it is fairly easy to out-smart them.

There is also at least one pack of wolves in the Central Belt and another north of of Inverness (though I personally haven't seen these ones) and there is a small pride of lions to the west of Stirling.

The local hill-dwellers (most of whom use this site) will usually be happy to keep you safe, in return for a glass of whisky and tales of far-off lands.

Keep safe and enjoy Scotland if/when you get here!

BtB

[Caberfeidh]

There are a couple of beasties which you should be aware of - but don't let it stop you enjoying yourself; you'd be amazed at how often people do not get attacked by the wildlife in Scotland. In October the stags are in the Rut, the big mating/fighting festival of the red deer world. A stag can be aggressive and some have been known to attack people who stray into the stag's territory. If you see or hear them bellowing, stay away from them. If they go for you, run for it. As a last resort chuck rocks at them. Climbing up trees will save you, but you may be up there a long time.
The next beastie is the wild boar. These were extinct in Scotland for centuries but have repopulated some areas in the West Highlands near Fort William after escaping from farms. Their dangerous reputation is debatable; some say they go for you, others say they will run at the merest sniff of a human. I don't trust them! Same advice as stags regarding avoiding them. A friend of mine in Germany was treed by a big boar which then just hung around waiting for her to come down. She was stuck up a tree for hours...
Adders should be hibernating by October. Wasps should be dead by then too. Ticks are about the only thing that will bite you by then. Rumours of packs of man-eating badgers sweeping majestically across the Moine Mhor should be ignored as the haverings of drunken bothy boys.
Some tales of stag encounters: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/vi ... =15#p13298

[FromDownSouth]

October would be the rutting season for wild haggis'

[CharlesT]

Avoid Caberfeidhs at all costs, especially when equipped with bone saws.

[nigheandonn]

Cows!

[esipats]

Thank's to everyone! Now I have lot of information what will expect me in Scotland's wild life.

[tony.cee]

I wouldn't worry about coming across anything wild in Scotland. Everything has been shot for sport by toffs or culled by gamekeepers leaving only broiler hen type grouse to claim the land. May see a crow if you're lucky

[Caberfeidh]

I forgot to mention the reindeer of the Cairngorms. They are a domesticated herd but roam wild. They will cadge food, but when you have fed them all your biscuits and there are none left, the reindeer become stroppy and get a bit aggressive in their demands for more!

Reindeer - stroppy if left biscuitless

There are some nice red deer which hang around the Kingshouse Hotel on Rannoch Moor and like to cadge a little food too, I give them muesli bars which are similar too their usual diet, and wont upset their gut.

Red Deer Stag

Seals might give you a nip, but you'd have to creep up on them as they bask on the rocks, or wear scuba gear and get into their element...

Seals

Then of course there are the sheep...

Sheep Monster

[esipats]

I forgot to mention the reindeer of the Cairngorms. They are a domesticated herd but roam wild. They will cadge food, but when you have fed them all your biscuits and there are none left, the reindeer become stroppy and get a bit aggressive in their demands for more!

014 (2)Ryvoan Reindeer#R.jpg

There are some nice red deer which hang around the Kingshouse Hotel on Rannoch Moor and like to cadge a little food too, I give them muesli bars which are similar too their usual diet, and wont upset their gut.

Burger van stag west highlands feb 08.JPG

Seals might give you a nip, but you'd have to creep up on them as they bask on the rocks, or wear scuba gear and get into their element...

Dunvegan Seal 02.JPG

Then of course there are the sheep...

sheep monster.JPG

Sheep!!!