As crimes go, this one was more weaselly than you might expect of an otter.
Last week a sleekit wee beastie slipped into a garden centre in Dumfries, helped itself to dog and bird food and knocked stock off shelves.
Worried workers at Matt Williamson and Son in Closeburn initially suspected the culprit might be a cat. But as staff tidied up early in the morning they discovered an otter on the loose.
The otter was locked in overnight before staff found it had helped itself to some dog food and bird seedMatt Williamson and Son
With the help of local vets, they returned the animal to the wild.
Craig Williamson, who works at the centre, said CCTV showed the otter entering at 12.30pm on April 13 and wandering around.
He told BBC Scotland: “It then reappeared at six in the morning to have a wander and its breakfast with a munch on some dog food and bird seed.
“Firstly we thought one of the village’s cats had been locked in as there was stock lying on the floor. When the stock was being placed back on the shelves its head popped out.
Vets helped to capture the otter and return it to the wildMatt Williamson and Son
“By this time we had customers coming in and had to explain they couldn’t come in as there was an otter in the shop.”
Williamson added: “It was a challenging beast to contain, as it outsmarted us when trying to contain it into a smaller space to capture it.
“After a good 20 minutes it was caught by a fishing net. The vets then took him away to be released at a burn not too far away.”
Nithsdale Vets, a local practice, took charge and later posted on Facebook that the episode showed no days were the same in the life of a vet.
Matt Williamson and Son’s Facebook page named the otter “Tarka” and joked that staff had asked the animal to leave because it was not able to pay.
“We do love the wildlife at the garden centre but preferably no overnight visitors and non-payers,” the company posted.
Scotland is home to a high proportion of the UK’s otter population. They can be found across the country but are most common along the western coast and on islands.
Otters are a protected species and it is an offence to deliberately or recklessly harass, capture, injure or kill them.
It is also an offence to disturb, damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of an otter or obstruct their access, whether or not an otter is present.
There have been some concerns about the safety of otters which get too close to people. Ten years ago the island of Mull installed special traffic lights — reflectors which catch the lights of oncoming vehicles — to help the animals know when it is safe to cross roads.
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