VOLUNTEERS have shared a warning to hikers and tourists after two shrew were found dead inside littered beer bottles at Glencoe.
Glencoe National Nature Reserve rangers found a glass bottle of Corona while litter-picking near Loch Achtriochtan and saw the mammals inside of it.
The charity said five bags of waste were filled and removed from the site along with the bottle.
The issued the warning issued on Saturday said that shrews - a small mole-like mammal - can often get in but not back out of small spaces with a smooth surface such as a glass bottle.
The post read: “We hope these photos shock and sadden you like they did us.
"While it might not be initially obvious, this discarded beer bottle contains two dead shrews.
"Shrews like to crawl inside small holes for cover and to hunt for insects, but the smooth surface of a bottle often makes it impossible to get back out.
“If they don’t drown in rainwater or the liquid remnants of the container, they eventually die of stress, starvation or exposure when they are unable to dry off.”
Social media followers reacted on Facebook with the sadness and anger emojis and shared their outrage. One user wrote: "What scenario would shake the folk up who do this? Imagine not having your waste bins in your neighbourhood emptied for a month…"
Someone else wrote: “It makes me equally mad and sad. It’s not rocket science.
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“You have carried it in, carry it back out. You have chosen to visit these places because they are beautiful, why leave litter and spoil it for everyone else!”
Another said it was "heart-breaking" while one added: "“Why can’t people just bin stuff, it’s not difficult. They don’t deserve to be in a beautiful place.”
The post has been shared over 2000 times.
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