A 'dead' newt was saved a by a Scots family after it turned up outside their home - miles away from its natural habitat.
Tracey Johnston Sunter, from Bothwell, Lanarkshire, said the poor amphibian was in a shocking condition and close to death when her husband Ken noticed it outside.
Her two boys Brody, 8, and Finley, 5, raced to get a plastic container and after slowly pouring water on the animal, it somehow recovered.
Tracey told the Record: "My husband had gone for a run and noticed it when he came in. I shouted on my two boys and they went and got an old takeout container and put it in some water.
"It looked really dehydrated and we don't know if it had been there a while. We've no idea how it got there.
"We kept pouring bits of water on it and it slowly came back to life. It didn't look in a good condition when we found it.
"I phoned the SSPCA and they said to find a pond or somewhere marshy to release it.
"I went up to Bothwell Golf Course as we had been there during a walk in lockdown last year and noticed Newts in the pond.
"It was a bit apprehensive at first and I had to give it a few pokes but it swam off."
The reptile, thought to be a female, was released safely back into the wild after its ordeal.
The family think a bird may have picked it up before they saved it and dropped it in their garden.
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