In An Innocent in Scotland, the author describes the scene from one of the bed and breakfasts he lodges at:
‘On a lamp table in the dining room there’s a little stuffed [taxidermied] animal, some kind of weasel sitting there with a little bushy tail and the sweetest look on its face.
“Who shot that little fellow?”
“That cute little fellow ate my hens,” said Louise. “And what’s more, he also ate my pet duck.”
“What was your pet duck’s name?”
“McDonald.”
“Nice name.”
“It was a nice duck, but it met a bad end.”
“How did this tragedy come about?”
“These little pine martens, they go into the hen house and they kill for the sake of killing. After all the hens are dead they go.They don’t even eat them. Same with my pet duck. These are murderous little varmints — these pine martens are the Nazis of the animal world.”‘
David McFadden in An Innocent in Scotland, p. 150
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