Feb. 19 (UPI) — Residents of a Scottish town came together to rescue and care for a pair of baby otters found seeking warmth in the engine compartment of a car.
Skelmorlie resident Karen Watson said residents spotted the otter cubs wandering in various locations on Friday before they wound up in the engine bay of a car.
“I went over and there were quite a few people there at that point. They were trying to coax them out the car but they had hunkered down and were trying to sleep,” Watson told BBC Scotland.
The group was able to get the otters out of the car, and Watson offered to shelter them for the night.
“I put them in the bathtub overnight — they were excellent and generally very quiet apart from a couple of squeaks,” Watson told the Largs & Millport Weekly News. “I barely slept a wink; I didn’t want to put the lights on. They made wee snoring sounds and cuddled into each other.”
Watson contacted the U.K. Wild Otter Trust and the Scottish SPCA in the morning. The SSPCA sent personnel to collect the otters a few hours later.
Dave Webb, of the U.K. Wild Otter Trust, praised Watson and her neighbors for their efforts.
“They 100% did all the right things. I know there were comments online saying to leave them, but if the cubs are in a life-threatening situation — which they were — then you have to help them,” Webb said.
The otters, now named Valentine and Juliet, will be cared for the SSPCA until they are old enough to survive on their own in the wild.