An opportunistic otter is at the heart of a fishy mystery on the outskirts of Dundee.
For weeks, husband and wife Pam (55) and Joe Leggeat (56) have been left puzzled by the gradual disappearance of their treasured fish collection in their Muirhead back garden.
The attractive water feature once boasted around 30 fish but over recent weeks this has been cut to just two.
At first they considered that a heron may be to blame but after spending time monitoring the garden the answer soon slipped into view.
Mr Leggeat, who works as a medical technician at Ninewells Hospital, said he was shocked when he spotted the otter.
“I knew that something was coming into the pond but didn’t know what,” he said. “I told my wife that the disturbance in and around the pond had all the hallmarks of an otter.
“Late one night I decided to stand at my kitchen window and around an hour-and-a-half later I saw it slink into the garden.”
After a series of late-night raids the cheeky otter eventually killed around £300 worth of fish, including ghost koi. It was not until Mr Leggeat spoke with a colleague that he realised the nearby Camperdown Wildlife Centre had an otter enclosure.
“I called the centre and asked the girl if they had lost an otter and she replied: ‘Yes, have you found it?'” Mr Legeatt continued. “I told her that I was delighted to have had the otter in my garden and that they could set up traps to catch it.”
More phonecalls with staff followed. But then the issue of compensation was brought up and the attitude changed, according to Mr Legeatt.
“The manageress was decidedly cold with me the next time we spoke,” he said. “She told me to talk with Kevin Gosling (from Dundee City Council’s leisure and communities department) who came to the house and started by saying: ‘I don’t think this is our otter.’
“He said this after we had been told that a female otter called Piper had escaped. He also said that they knew where the animal was and that it was still inside the grounds of Camperdown Park. He got very defensive.
“But, to be honest, it is not about the money I am not fussed about that. It was their attitude that got to me and the fact that they have still not caught the animal, which escaped back in April.”
Leisure and Culture Dundee, which is responsible for the Camperdown Wildlife Centre, insisted the otter is not necessarily connected with the park.
A spokesman said: “We are aware that an otter is missing from Camperdown Wildlife Centre. There have been a number of reports of otter activity in the area over the years before this animal went missing from the centre.”