Lovesick lothario Hercules will be going into lockdown after spending five days on the lam.
The six-year-old bull moose has led his owners on a merry dance after smashing his way out of an enclosure on a Highland Perthshire estate at the weekend.
He managed to evade capture by hiding in a forestry plantation at Dalnacardoch Wood about 30 miles away from the Pitcastle Estate at Strathtay.
Unfortunately for the errant elk, he was spotted by workers this morning before he could complete his journey to the Highland Wildlife Park, home to a female European elk.
A team from Pitcastle rushed to the site, where they are currently trying to coax the gentle giant into a waiting trailer so they can take him home.
Estate manager Donald Broad told The Courier they would be taking extra precautions to ensure Hercules doesn’t make a third bid for freedom.
“He’ll be going into solitary,” he said.
“We’re going to lock him in a darkened shed until the rut is over so he can’t escape again.
“Rutting tends to last up to three weeks, so he’s almost at the end of it and then he should be back to normal.”
