Two escaped porcupines found on housing estate

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.

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

"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?'"

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.

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

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

"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."