Rescue staff are pretending to be pine martens to help rehabilitate an orphaned baby.
Tiny Marvel was found at the side of the road in Perth earlier this month.
Staff at the Scottish SPCA estimate he is just three or four weeks old.
He is now being rehabilitated at the charity’s national wildlife rescue centre in Fishcross.
Centre manager Colin Seddon said: “Marvel is currently being hand reared by our assistant manager Jonny Appleyard.
“He has been taking his milk from a bottle and we will hopefully be able to wean him onto solid food in the next couple of weeks when his eyes open.
“Orphaned pine martens are quite often reared as a group but he’s the only one in our care at the moment.
“Like other mustelids they need play and interaction to develop natural behaviour. As he has not had any siblings to play with Jonny will have to assume that role and play with him several times a day to prevent him becoming too distressed and bored.”
Colin added that Marvel is likely to be released ast a specially chosen location.
He said: “We’ve seen an increase in the number of pine martens we treat with most of them being orphans. If we get an adult into our care it is generally due to a traumatic injury and we will always release them back into the area they came from – unless persecution is likely. In this case we will find a more suitable location.
“Pine martens are very rare and protected by law. They are currently being introduced back into parts of the UK where they were once persecuted to extinction.
“Once Marvel is fully independent and behaving naturally he will be released at a specially chosen release site with the land owner’s permission.”
