Wildlife Gallery - Mammals
Young Roe Deer at BelstaneWe have a small population of roe deer resident here and you may see them, most likely grazing in the very early morning. Our resident female had triplets last year and this is one of her babies in our garden in the autumn.
Winter Roe Buck in VelvetRoe deer horns grow over the winter. This buck's antlers are fully grown, and he'll have scraper the 'velvet' off of them on a young sapling, usually scraping off the bark and killing the sapling. You'll see signs of this on dead saplings in our wood.
Brown HareBrown hares used to be a common sight around here but their numbers have dwindled considerably. Even so, we usually have one or two resident here. Like the roe deer, they're very shy so you need to be quiet and keep your dog on the lead.
StoatStoats are pretty cute unless you happen to be a rabbit, in which case although you're five times as big, you're on the menu. Stoat numbers are down because the buzzards are not only eating the rabbits, they're preying on stoats as well.
RabbitRabbits used to be pretty plentiful around here. Now they have to contend with our nesting pair of buzzards as well as the foxes and stoats. Can't be easy being at the bottom of everybody's food chain.
FoxFoxes are, of course, notoriously… foxy but there's a thriving population around here - much to the disgust of the local farmers at lambing time!
BadgerBadgers to be seen in several places nearby. There are none in the vicinity of the cabin but they do live in the 'Fox Covert', our very own wildlife reserve down the road.
OtterWell, we don't have otters on Belstane, but they have returned to the Water of Leith which is a nice walk about a mile from the main road. However, otters are the shyest of animals and they are very hard to spot.
HedgehogBritain's favourite mammal. There are plenty around but you'll need to go out at night with a torch to see one.
