Cute ears and vole collection

Never let it be said that life on a rural croft on a remote Scottish island is boring. Every day brings its new challenges and adventures – just not those that you’d perhaps anticipated.

I was given the chance to look after this little bundle of puppy loveliness the other day. Friends needed four hours to do some work on their boat and Woody was too young to go out with them yet.

Young animals are just adorable. Woody hasn’t grown into his feet and his ears yet, so he bundles along, tail wagging furiously and ears flying in the wind. He has little sharp milk teeth and fur as soft as silk.

He wanted so badly to play with the kittens, but they weren’t having any of it. We got the hissing and back arching displays, tails all fluffed up to look more menacing, along with the tortured looks at us at our sheer audacity entertaining a DOG in their house. What were we thinking?

Talking of the kittens, I should perhaps mention the rodent situation.

Our two intrepid hunters are now making significant dents in the croft vole and shrew population. Not a day goes by without a catch, and often several. Just what we’d hoped for. Sadly their idea of fun is to bring their catch into the house and we spend countless hours chasing them back out. Or finding sad little remnants or chewed bits of body scattered across the floors.

Freya catches and plays with them, but Fergus, always one for a free meal, eats them. Which in a way I’d prefer, as our bins are filling up with kitchen-roll wrapped corpses. If we throw them outside they just bring them back in again..

Never a dull day!