Escaped porcupines found on housing estate

The porcupines were spotted on the loose on Saturday morning

A pair of escaped porcupines caused a stir when they were spotted on a housing estate in southern Scotland.

They made their way out of an enclosure in a new small animals complex at Dalscone Farm Park near Dumfries.

The porcupines managed to dislodge a metal door fitting and turned up about a mile away in Heathhall where they were seen by a number of residents on Saturday morning.

The pair were eventually rounded up and safely returned to their nearby home.

Dalscone owner, Ben Best, said the animals had been safely in their new enclosure on Friday night but were gone by Saturday.

"We realised they were missing first thing in the morning," he said.

"We had moved them up late on Friday night - about 22:00.

"We came back in at 07:30 on Saturday morning and thought: 'Has someone moved them out of the pen?'"

The animals managed to dislodge a metal door to make their escape

He said it quickly became "panic stations" as they realised the porcupines were on the loose.

"They discovered that they could actually snap the steel off the side of the door and escape out the back, and ended up in Heathhall," he said.

The initial search was close to the farm park but it soon had to branch out to the nearby housing estate.

Owner Ben Best said it had been "panic stations" when the escape was discovered

"We thought they'd just go somewhere where they could get a little bit of cover and then nestle down because obviously they weren't really sure where they were, being out of their enclosure for the first time," he said.

"I think what they've done is they've crossed the main road - the A701 - and then they've gone up the cycle path all the way into Heathhall and then decided to have a bit of an exploration.

"A resident in Heathhall phoned up the farm and said: 'I've got two porcupines in the back garden, do they belong to you?'"

The porcupines appear to have suffered no adverse effects from their adventure

A team was immediately sent out to round up the escapees.

"Five of us then dispatched straight away from the farm," said Mr Best.

"If we'd had a siren on our van we'd have had it on.

"We got to Heathhall and used some boards to usher the porcupines into the trailer and it was all pretty straightforward from there."

He said they did not appear to have suffered any adverse effects.

"Thankfully, they've settled back in their pen, and are quite happy," he said.

"They're eating and drinking well, so no harm done."