A badger has been rescued after being stuck for hours inside a wooden planter at a property in Kemnay.
A resident thought someone was trying to break into his home when he heard knocks on the downstairs window on Saturday morning.
However, he realised that the alleged thief was a badger that had climbed the planter in the garden to eat his plants’ bulbs.
The animal was pawing at the window trying to find a way down but being unable to do so.
The resident then called the New Arc Wildlife Rescue charity in Ellon so the badger could be released again into the woodland.
‘Unusual rescue’ of badger stuck in Kemnay planter
Paul Reynolds, wildlife rehabilitator and co-manager of the charity drove to the scene to rescue the stuck animal.
The 36-year-old told the P&J that he did not expect to see the badger inside the planter.
He said: “It was a very unusual rescue situation. When I arrived at the property, I started looking under the planter, but I couldn’t see it.
“You don’t expect to come across a badger just sitting in a planter.”
The animal rescue expert explained how the badger may have ended up in the bizarre situation.
He said: “Badgers can climb very well but they don’t really jump.
“I think it was enticed to climb up by the smell of the bulbs and was not very confident in getting down, so it started digging and ended up at the bottom of the planter.
“It couldn’t get any further and pretty much buried itself. It couldn’t move and was scared.”
Stuck badger rescued and freed into the woodland
Mr Reynolds explained how he successfully rescued the badger from the Kemnay garden.
He said: “I restrained the badger, and I gave it a quick look-over. There were no obvious injuries.
“It was a very healthy badger and a very strong one.
“It was also very well fed, but it had obviously spent a few hours inside a planter digging around and eating all the bulbs.”
He then placed the animal inside a carrier and took it to a woodland area around 300 yards from the property, where badgers can often be found.
“I opened the carrier and off she went. She also seemed to know where she was going,” he concluded.
