Most of us are used to seeing them in zoos or on the TV.
But occasionally, exotic animals get into places you’d never expect to find them in Tayside and Fife.
After two reports of snakes being found in Broughty Ferry and Glenrothes in recent days – and a chicken crossing a Dundee road – we take a look at seven times animals were discovered in weird and wonderful places across the region.
Snakes on a beach… and an electricity wire
Dog walker James O’Donnell got a shock when he came across a dead 10ft-long python lying among rocks on the beach at Broughty Ferry in April.
He said: “It took me a few seconds to fully realise what it was. Then I could see it was clearly a snake and a huge one at that.
“It’s certainly not the sort of thing I was expecting to find while waking my dog on the beach in Broughty Ferry.”
It was later confirmed the animal had been recovered by animal welfare officers, but mystery remains over its death and how it came to be by the sea.
The following week, a sighting of a “snake” coiled up on an electricity wire above Elgin Drive in Glenrothes sparked concern.
After a picture was shared on Facebook, one person said: “I’m never leaving the house again!”
Another posted: “Won’t be in Glenrothes anytime soon.”
It was later confirmed by Fife Council that it was actually a toy.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
It is the famous joke that no one has ever quite got the answer to.
But a Dundee learner driver and his instructor were left in fits of laughter when a runaway chicken crossed the road in front of them.
The encounter captured the imagination of locals when it was shared on TikTok.
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One local claimed it was a “normal day in Dundee” – but another said: “We have been waiting for an answer for years… you could have solved one of humanity’s great mysteries.”
So why did the chicken cross the road? We may never know.
Tarantula ‘set loose’ in Dundee park
In November 2014, locals were engrossed by reports a tarantula had been released into a Dundee park.
A dog-walker claimed to have seen a hooded man opening the lid of a food container and releasing the exotic pet into a tree bed in Dawson Park.
Pest controllers were called to the scene but after a frantic search, there was no trace of the arachnid.
One expert said the spider was unlikely to have survived.
Ruth Rose, who was walking her dog in the area at the time, said: “I hope the cold kills it, but what an idiot this man has been.
“There are people and dogs walking around here. What happens if it bites someone?”
Fife woman bitten by snake in her bed
Snakes have played a big part in unusual animal stories over the years – but perhaps none more terrifying than when Guardbridge woman Caroline Griffin woke to find one lying on top of her.
Caroline had been joined by Hiss, a non-poisonous brown belly California kingsnake, who had escaped from a neighbour’s house months before.
Speaking in March 2014, she told The Courier: “The snake was lying on top of me when I opened my eyes in the morning.
“I was about to get up when I saw it sitting on my chest.
“I thought the kids were playing some sort of trick on me, at first. Then I saw it move and I got the fright of my life.
“As soon as I started to scream, it bit me. I thought I was going to die.”
Owner Gareth Niven said: “He has never bitten anyone before. He probably reacted to Caroline screaming.
“I will be keeping a closer eye on him in the future.”
Meerkats living the ‘simples’ life by Dundee road
They’re familiar as the faces of insurance adverts and their “simples” catchphrase – but meerkats are a less common sight next to a busy Dundee road.
So Franek Czarnecki and his friend Amy Smith could not believe their eyes when they found one living in an area of park by South Road in March 2021.
The pair caught the meerkat – native to southern Africa – using a piece of ham and a plastic box until Scottish SPCA experts could rescue it.
Franek said: “The woman didn’t believe me at first.
“I sent her photos and emails and they asked me to keep the meerkat with us for as long as possible.”
A second meerkat was found in the park the following day.
It was initially suspected they may have escaped from Camperdown Wildlife Centre but after all its meerkats were accounted for, thoughts turned to them being private pets.
Dundee snake goes for a slither in the park
Go through any park in Dundee on a sunny day and you will find dozens of dog-walkers.
Snake-walkers, however…
That was the sight that greeted sunbathers in Magdalen Green in September 2021 when a 6ft snake was let loose to take a slither on the grass.
Sam Vanderplank was among those watching on in disbelief.
He said: “I was reading my book when I just glanced up and jumped really badly as it was right next to me.
“The owners made sure people knew she was friendly though.”
Parrot finds new perch – on Fife roof
Parrots enjoy finding somewhere high to sit – but macaw Cody went further than most when he fled his Dalgety Bay home and perched himself on a neighbouring roof.
The green-winged macaw spent 14 hours atop the house on Morlich Road days before Christmas 2021.
Owner Mae Heasman eventually confronted her fear of heights to be lifted 30ft by firefighters to bring Cody to safety.
She said: “I’d been speaking to him from the ground and his responses made me think he’s now had enough.
“I kept on talking to him and when he realised it was me and not a stranger. He even gave me a cheeky ‘hello’.”
- Do you have any unusual animal stories? Email livenews@thecourier.co.uk
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