Juniper Cottage
Highlands of Scotland

Terry & Lynne Sayer
Juniper Cottage,
Nethy Bridge
Inverness-shire,
PH25 3DE, Scotland

Tel. 01479 821456 - Fax. 01479 821140

email enquiries@junipercottage.co.uk
Wildlife
Other Than Birds
  

In addition to birds, Strathspey is a haven for all sorts of wild animals. Plenty of space and very little deliberate persecution provide the right conditions for most of our major mammals to prosper in the valley. With luck and a little planning otters, red squirrels (they abound in our garden), badgers and pine martens might be seen. The forests also contain a wide variety of fungi, the rare narrow headed wood ant lives here and a host of moths and butterflies can be found in due season.
Pine Martens
The pine marten has made a spirited recovery in Scotland since it was placed on the protected list and the remnant population in the north west has spread out into most of the rest of the Highlands, including Nethy Bridge. Terry and Lynne have installed a pine marten nest box in the grounds of Juniper Cottage in the hope that one day baby pine martens may be seen running around in the garden. A pine marten hide has been built not too far away at Rothiemurchus and places can be reserved by phoning 01479 812498.

Red Squirrels
These engaging small creatures are hanging on relentlessly in the Scottish Highlands despite ever increasing pressure from their north American cousins the grey squirrels. Red squirrels can be seen almost anywhere in or near the Abernethy pine forests, in gardens where the residents feed birds and on the Abernethy Golf Course. For most of the year the best time to see red squirrels is in the early morning, but in high summer they are active on and off for much of the day.

Badgers
Despite being fairly common in much of the UK most people have never seen a live badger. This is because they are largely nocturnal and usually only emerge from their setts as darkness falls. The Strathspey badger hide is only a ten minute drive from Nethy Bridge and badgers are almost guaranteed to be seen there. All sorts of other animals visit the area near the hide so pine martens, otters and foxes might also be seen on some evenings. Telephone 01479 831768 for more details or visit www.highlandbadgers.net for more details
Otters
The decline of the otter has been reversed all over the UK and here in the Highlands otters now inhabit every river and loch as well as much of the Scottish coastline. The river Nethy near Juniper Cottage has its own share of otters and they have even been seen under the bridge right in the centre of the village. However the best chance of seeing an otter is along quiet stretches of the river around dusk or dawn.
Wildcats
The Scottish wildcat is in grave danger of extinction, not because there are insufficient cats in the forest but because it is not fussy about who it breeds with. The wildcat is therefore watering down its own genes by inter-breeding with feral domestic cats and there may be less than a thousand true wildcats left. Nevertheless they and their hybrid relatives do well in Abernethy forest and Juniper Cottage's own cats have struck up an uneasy friendship with some of them.

Moths and Butterflies
The Cairngorm National Park is host to 25 different species of butterfly and scores of different moths. The garden at Juniper Cottage attracts many of them at certain times of year and printed guides are available from local shops to help you identify them.