Horses stranded on tiny island in Scotland after river floods
A group of horses found themselves stranded on a tiny pocket of land after the River Dulnain in Inverness-shire, Scotland, burst its banks.
The four animals were spotted perched on their small hump of grass surrounded by water by local photographer Mark Hamblin.
According to Mark, the horses were left stranded all day but appeared perfectly content as they cropped the grass on their small island.
And, as the water levels gradually decreased and their grassy sanctuary grew larger, the horses were given access to even more food.
As the water levels were dropping, and the horses were not in immediate danger, the decision was made not to launch a rescue mission but to wait until the horses were able to make their own way to freedom.
Last year, firefighters and a specialist rescue team had to be called into rescue a horse after it fell into a sink hole in Somerset.
The poor creature, called Thomas, was stuck fast after falling into the 10ft deep and 20ft wide hole, which opened up after heavy rain in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
The Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service had to use a mechanical digger to make a slope to pull Thomas up from.
And, back in 2012, a horse was dramatically rescued by a helicopter and 40 firefighters after becoming stuck in the mud in California.
The 2,200lb draft horse, called Duke, ran into trouble after getting stuck in thick mud at the Hansen Dam Aquatic Centre in Lake View Terrace, California.
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