An angler got the surprise of his life when a deer swam past his boat in the middle of Loch Leven.
James Blair was fishing for pike at the beauty spot, near Kinross, when the close encounter happened.
“I turned round to speak to my mate and that’s when I saw this head bobbing about in the water,” he said.
“Neither of us could believe it. I’m fishing most weekends and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
James said there were people on one of the islands close to where he and his friend were fishing, and they reckoned that’s what had prompted the deer to take to the water.
“I think it must have got spooked and decided to move off,” he said.
“It picked up speed as we were watching it and made its way onto the island.
“It was some swimmer.”
Loch Leven not for the faint-hearted
The deer appeared to have crossed from one of the smaller islands on Loch Leven onto the castle island, where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in 1567.
The animals are known to be good swimmers.
But the islands are well out from the shore. And Loch Leven has an average depth of 15ft, meaning it’s not for the faint-hearted.
James, 27, from Paisley, said he and his pal managed to catch a few fish on Saturday night.
But it was the one that got away that they’ll be talking about for years to come.
“It was amazing,” he said.
“The guy I was fishing with is in his 50s and he’s never seen anything like it.”
Loch Leven island – a deer green place
Connor Campbell of Loch Leven Fisheries said: “I’ve seen some unusual things on the loch in my time. There was a black swan out there recently. But this is a new one on me.
“The islands are pretty far out,” he added. “So it had a fair old swim.
“The public can get on to the castle island, but large areas of it are fenced off, so the deer is probably still over there having the time of its life.”
