ANIMAL MAGIC


was therefore blessed, so when it flies the form of a cross can be seen on its plumage. Nature is fascinating in all its forms: did you know that chaffinches have individual


local


dialects, or that the dunnock, or hedge sparrow, often lives in a ménage à trois? Otters, herons, stoats and weasels frequently take advantage of the ‘buy one, get one free’ frog bonanza as pairs of amphibians get together during their annual breeding frenzy. The interdependence of people and animals


is part of Scotland’s history. Shetland families, for example, depended totally on the Shetland cow – premature loss was viewed as a bad omen with devastating consequences. The animals had to survive on the poorest fodder and frequently, like their owners, had to withstand famine, emerging from the byre after winter so weak with malnutrition that they required lifting. The Shetlanders were so devoted to their cattle (and the cattle to their owners) that sometimes when they were forced to sell them on, they went with a piece of their owner’s sackcloth tied to their backs and were known as ‘clootie cows’. The problem of moles was recognised as far back as 1566 when an Act of Parliament offered


a bounty for eliminating them. Not only were mole catchers paid for each kill, they could also sell the beautifully soft skins of their victims. These were made into waistcoats, breeches, muffs and hats, and until recently it wasn’t uncommon for plumbers to use moleskins as a temporary patch for burst pipes. In 2009 a herring gull was famously found to


have a passion for chilli-flavoured crisps. Every day the gull would strut through the door of an Aberdeen newsagent’s and steal a packet of the crisps, before returning to the pavement and ripping open the bag with its powerful bill. Mary wrote the final chapter of Fauna Scotica –


‘Creatures of the Mind’. Appropriately, her final entry on the haggis brims with tongue-in-cheek humour. Given all the recent fuss about the reintroduction of beavers and the importance of them being of the right provenance, together with many of the other raging conservation issues of the day, it appears that it is important to keep the wild haggis population pure: ‘It’s just a precaution,’ said a spokesman for Scottish Natural Heritage, ‘but the lowland haggis could pose a threat to its close cousin Maragus Niger, a native of the Western Isles.’


FIELD


FACTS Fauna Scotica: People and Animals in Scotland by Polly Pullar and Mary Low is out now (£30, Birlinn) www.birlinn.co.uk See page 193 for a book review and an exclusive reader offer


WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 115


Clockwise from above: Kim, the author’s collie, with Schiehallion behind; a Shetland cow and calf; stags on the hill; Robert Harrison with his prize Blackface and North Cheviot tups.


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