A LOST badger cub has been rescued after mysteriously landing itself down a rabbit hole.
The five-week-old orphan, named Bracken by Scottish SPCA staff, was found by a member of the public in the burrow in Torphicen, Bathgate, West Lothian.
She was taken to the charity’s Wildlife Rescue Centre, where she is being cared for until she is old enough to fend for herself.
Colin Seddon, manager of the centre near Inverkeithing in Fife, said: “Badger cubs don’t usually come out of the sett until they are about eight-weeks-old.
“We’re not sure how Bracken ended up in a rabbit burrow.
“She has maybe been dragged out by another animal or something has happened to her mother.
“She’s far too young to fend for herself so we are hand rearing her until she is feeding herself and is healthy enough to be released.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish SPCA said the baby badger was found in unusual circumstances, but there was nothing to suggest that any suspicious activity had taken place.
When asked if Bracken had been the victim of the cruel blood sport ‘baiting’, she said it was “highly unlikely”.
