A tiny, orphaned baby otter named Misty has been rescued by the Scottish SPCA in Fishcross after losing her family in a car accident.
Spotted on the road by a caring family who were passing by, Misty was reported to the SPCA and relocated to the National Wildlife Rescue Centre where she is receiving specialist care from the team.
Estimated to only be about 10 weeks old, there is no way that Misty could survive alone. Mr Colin Seddon, manager of the National Wildlife Rescue Centre, reported that although the orphaned otter refused to bottle feed when she first arrived, she took to eating fish (the main food source for wild otters, along with amphibians and crustaceans) and is “now going from strength to strength.”
SPCA staff chose the water-themed name ‘Misty’ because otters are water mammals, with webbed feet and thick fur to keep them warm. They can also close both their nose and ears when they are immersed in the water.
“We named the cub Misty as she is very small and mist is made up of tiny droplets of water,” explained Mr Seddon.
Otters are highly social animals and form strong bonds with both their parents and siblings — grooming, playing, eating and resting together 24 hours a day. It was an adjustment for Misty to be alone without her family, so the staff at the SPCA gave her a soft toy “robin” for comfort, which she reportedly bonded with instantly.
Staff say Misty “will be reared with another otter of a similar age, called Fin, who arrived into our care on Boxing Day. Misty will be released in around a year’s time when she is mature enough to fend for herself in the wild.”
One year of age is generally the time when a wild otter would start to separate from its parents and become independent.

Oh how sweet and precious
Thank you the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Yous dae Scotland proud.
L’essere umano più passa il tempo e più diventa una bestia nel più brutto termine della parola!
God bless her! I am glad they are taking great care of her!
Aw bless her!
How cute Misty takes to a stuffed robin.
God bless those people that stopped to help Misty and the staff at the SPCA. May Misty survive and thrive and many more hours of joyband comfort from her ‘friend’ the stuffed robin.
So sad her entire family was killed..once again at the hands of humans and our *progress* in this world. Sounds like the people who carelessly killed her family didn’t even stop. God bless the wonderful people who did stop to help her.
She’s beautiful!
Hey, Misty 🙂