Howling Wind

and driving rain. Autumn is here.

Last week when at the Highland Wildlife Park we spent a long time watching the wolves pacing back and forth in their enclosure. My son is fascinated by wolves and has a great passion for them so, in turn, there's a lot of Lupine facts in our household.

Paul Lister wants to re-introduce them to an 'enclosed' wilderness area on his estate near Ardgay. I'm undecided about how I feel on this. On one hand, I agree with returning the land to its wild state, and is there a more natural way to create an equilibrium among the red deer numbers? But on the other, the animals would still have to be fenced so is it not just a huge wildlife park? In the case of the Alladale estate, it would surely mean public access closure to a wonderful glen, and surrounding mountains. One of my most memorable mountain rock climbs was on the Alladale Wall at the head of the glen.

There used to be a lovely bothy in Glen Alladale. When Paul Lister took over the estate, he reclaimed the bothy and made it into a holiday house.