Wildlife experts were called out after a woman mistook an ornamental otter for a "12-inch long lizard".

The Scottish SPCA said it was alerted to the "lizard" when the woman was checking on her cat in an outside shelter.

However, when officers arrived to the property in Aberdeen they discovered it was just a false alarm.

Animal rescue officer Karen Hogg said: "The caller has a shelter set up in her garden as her cat doesn't always want to come indoors so she has a cosy bed with food set up for him.

"When she went to check the shelter, she noticed an animal intruder and got a fright.

"I went to check on it and was surprised to find an ornamental otter.

"Someone must have placed the garden ornament inside as a joke.

"This job can be very tough as we deal with severely injured animals on a daily basis, so it's quite nice when something like this makes us smile."

This is not the first time the Scottish SPCA has experienced a case of mistaken identity.

Ms Hogg added: "Last year one of my colleagues responded to a report of an injured bat on a bin but when she arrived she discovered the bat was plastic.

"Although incidents like these are false alarms, it's always better to be safe than sorry and we'd encourage anyone with concerns about an animal to call our helpline."