15 October 2010 Last updated at 06:12 ET

Baby squirrel rescued by gun-dog

The seven-week-old squirrel was rescued after a dog walker found him on a forest floor

An injured red squirrel that was sniffed out by a trained gun-dog is now recovering in Scottish SPCA care.

The seven-week-old squirrel was rescued by the animal welfare charity after a dog walker found him on a forest floor near Auchtermuchty on 10 October.

The springer spaniel, "pointed" to the squirrel, which was struggling to move and his owner picked the squirrel up and carried him home in his hat.

The dog owner then contacted the Scottish SPCA for help.

A local Inspector collected the young squirrel and transported him to the charity's wildlife rescue centre in Fife where staff have named him Hamish.

Centre manager Colin Seddon said, "It's likely that Hamish lost his balance while out exploring the trees and landed on the ground.

"He did have a sore leg when he first came in to us, probably due to the fall, but he seems to be doing much better now.

"Hamish has started to feed himself so we will keep handling to a minimum from now on.

"This means that when he's fully fit we can return him to his natural habitat as a truly wild animal with the best chance of survival."

Red squirrels are protected in Scotland, as populations are squeezed out by more dominant grey squirrels.