Pictish carved beasts 'unlike anything found before'

A 1,200-year-old standing stone discovered in the Highlands has carvings never before seen on a Pictish stone, archaeologists have said.

The stone was found lying in the ground and covered by vegetation at an early Christian church site near Dingwall.

Archaeologists have now revealed the side of the stone that was down in the earth and hidden from view was decorated with "two massive beasts".

Just over a metre of the original two metre-tall (6ft) stone survives.

The beasts were carved down the side of a cross.

John Borland, of Historic Environment Scotland and president of the Pictish Arts Society, said: "The two massive beasts that flank and surmount the cross are quite unlike anything found on any other Pictish stone.

"These two unique creatures serve to remind us that Pictish sculptors had a remarkable capacity for creativity and individuality.

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Can Scotland save its wildcats from extinction?

The secretive mammals are fast disappearing from the Highlands but last-ditch efforts to save them are fraught with challenges

Libby Brooks

Fri 15 Jun 2018 16.52 BSTLast modified on Fri 15 Jun 2018 22.00 BST

Set deep in mixed woodland of Scots pine and birch, near the banks of the river Beauly in Inverness-shire, several huge, concealed pens contain two breeding pairs of Scottish wildcat.

Wildcats mate from January to March, and their high, anguished breeding calls through the dark winter nights are thought to have inspired tales of the Cat Sith, a spectral feline of Celtic legend that was believed to haunt the Highlands.

“It is a cry that carries over quite a distance and it is spine-chilling if you hear it in the middle of the night,” says Sir John Lister-Kaye, renowned nature writer and director of the Aigas Field Centre. The former Victorian sporting estate, which now offers conservation holidays and environmental education, is one of 20 sites currently participating in a conservation breeding programme led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

“I’m sure that if there were other wildcats nearby they would have been attracted to the calls. But since we started in 2011 we’ve had foxes, pine martins, badgers, one or two domestic cats come and have a look – but not a single wildcat anywhere near.”

The Scottish wildcat is now one of the most critically endangered wild mammals native to the UK, according to a comprehensive analysis by the Mammal Society released earlier this week, which estimated the population at 200 but accepts that the figure may be significantly lower.

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Relocated squirrels moving to new areas, says charity

6 November 2017

Red squirrels relocated to woodlands in the north west Highlands are "flourishing and breeding", according to a conservation charity.

More than 80 squirrels were trapped in other parts of the Highlands in phases of the project led by Findhorn-based Trees for Life.

The animals were released in areas that had no squirrels, including Shieldaig.

Tree for Life said many of the squirrels were not only breeding but also spreading to other new areas.

Becky Priestley, the charity's wildlife officer, said: "Early indications are that this could be a real wildlife success story.

"The new squirrel populations are not only flourishing and breeding in their new homes, they are also starting to spread out into new areas - with squirrels being sighted as far as 15km away."

The project's initial relocations took place between the springs of 2016 and 2017, with the first 33 squirrels from near Inverness and also in Moray released at Shieldaig in Wester Ross.

This was followed by 22 more released at the Coulin Estate next to Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve near Kinlochewe.

Thirty squirrels were also released at Plockton, in Lochalsh, where the landowners include The National Trust for Scotland.

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Wolf top dog in BBC Countryfile reintroduction poll

A Highland landowner has a long-term plan to reintroduce wolves to Scotland

Wolves have been leading an online poll of animals people would like to see re-introduced to the British countryside.

European lynx and beavers have been joint second in the survey run by the BBC's Countryfile Magazine. Fewer votes have favoured bears and wild boar

The magazine launched the poll following its interview with Highland landowner Paul Lister.

Mr Lister has a long-term plan to release wolves and bears on his Alladale Estate in Sutherland.

More than 400 votes have been cast so far in the online poll.

Elk and wild boar were introduced on a trial basis to the 23,000-acre Alladale Estate in the past, but Highland cattle are the biggest animals to be found there today.

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Woman badly injured by 'panicked stag' in Highlands

A woman has been badly injured by a stag while on holiday in the Highlands.

Kate Stone, who is believed to be in her 30s and from Cambridge, was hurt in the early hours of Monday morning.

She was first taken by ambulance to Belford Hospital in Fort William before she was airlifted to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Local man Jim Hunter said it happened as he and a group of people walked to his home after a night out at a pub. He said the red deer had panicked.

The incident happened at Lochailort, near Fort William in Lochaber.

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'Spectacular' Glenmoriston ant nests protected

Colonies of an ant rarely found in the north Highlands have been given protection against birds.

Chicken wire has been rolled out over the yellow meadow ant nests to make it harder for pheasants and partridges to scratch up the insects.

Charity Buglife Scotland said the nests on Glenmoriston Estate in Inverness-shire were spectacular.

It added that the colonies were important because of their location in the Highlands.

Local woman Jane Bowman alerted estate staff to the heather and moss covered mounds.

Buglife said queens along with thousands of worker ants could be thriving in the colonies.

Yellow meadow ants can live for more than 20 years, spending most of that time underground feeding on aphids found on roots of plants.

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18970447