The owner of a petting farm has put out an appeal for a mischievous wandering wallaby who escaped on Monday and is now on the loose in northern Aberdeenshire.
Nikki Johnstone, owner of Waulkmill Menagerie, only welcomed brothers Eddie and Edward to the farm on Sunday evening.
However, the stress of the relocation led Eddie to make a sharp getaway as soon as he was able – which proved to be the following afternoon.
Miss Johnstone said: “About lunchtime on Monday, we just let him out of his pen and he went straight through the tiniest wee hole. He was just so, so scared.
“They’re real feral, they’ve been left to their own devices with the breeder, but normally I work close with them for two or three weeks and they’re eating out my hands.
“We managed to close the other one before he got out, or he’d be away as well.”
Spotted outside pub
Eddie was last sighted hopping along the road outside the Howe pub in New Deer, more than three miles away from the menagerie, at 2am on Wednesday.
His spotters said he was heading in the direction of Cuminestown, so a worried Miss Johnstone posted on social media pages for there and Turriff, asking people to keep an eye out for a small grey marsupial.
She said: “There’s no point in going looking for him because we’ll never catch him, but what I’ve just said to people is if they can get him enclosed in a building, a shed or a garden, I would then come.
“The easiest way to catch him would be to put a blanket over his head or grab his tail. He’s not aggressive, he won’t bite.
“Other than that, I’ve just got to hopefully wait until someone says he’s trapped somewhere.”
If you have seen Eddie, you can get in touch with Nikki by calling 07983 556389 or by messaging the Waulkmill Menagerie Facebook page.