And lat no small beist suffir skaith [harm] na skornis
This quotation from William Dunbar, writing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, makes him sound like the father of nature conservation. In fact it is a tactful suggestion to his monarch in The Thrissill and the Rois that his subjects should be compassionately ruled.
The smaller the animal, the more dangerous it is. The great Clydesdale horse is a gentle giant but the shrew might paralyse your foot. To study Scottish mammals, you need to visit the countryside in winter as well as summer, to see the stoat in its ermine coat and the mountain hare in its white camouflage and, if you are weary walking over hills and heaths, you can always stop and gaze restfully into a river pool or loch for more wildlife watching.