A rogue beaver has been rehomed after fears it could cause fresh flooding in a Highland Perthshire town.
The animal moved into the pond off West Moulin Road in Pitlochry after apparently becoming separated from a family unit further up the Moulin burn.
However its attempts to build a dam on a concrete slipway proved futile, with the material washing away and catching on mesh coverings of a nearby culvert.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) enlisted the help of a specialist from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) to lay a trap for the animal, with the intention of returning it further upstream.
The trap was put in place on Thursday night and within 24 hours had successfully trapped the beaver.
John Burrow, of SNH, said the area had previously flooded without the involvement of the beaver and they were keen to avoid a repeat.
“It’s a small pond and where the Moulin burn spills out of the pond to carry on down it goes over a smooth concrete slipway and underneath the bridge to the Craigmore Hotel,” he said.
“It has culverts and they have trash screens on them to prevent debris going into the culvert and blocking it.
“Our fear was because the animal was wanting to manipulate the water level on the pond by building on the slipway, where it couldn’t actually be anchored, that any increased flow of water was likely to take the debris off and wash it down the burn, where it ran the risk of blocking the screens and spilling over.”
Expert Rosin Campbell-Palmer, of the RZSS, set up the trap and it was expected to take several weeks to catch the animal.
It was trapped within 24 hours, however, and moved to a more suitable location.
John said: “The traps were in place by 3 or 4pm. Rosin had been baiting earlier in the week putting out apples and carrots and they were all gone so she made the decision to have a go at trapping it straight away. Ordinarily you’d put the trap out and not set it, just bait to get the animal used to going into it.
“I went up before first light to find the beaver sitting quietly in the corner of it. It has now been removed and released back at the mouth of the Moulin burn. It’s back in a habitat where there’s greater opportunity for it to be accommodated without coming into conflict with people.”