A ROSYTH engineer has been on a mission to keep animals safe by creating an otter crossing.
Bob Gould, 44, along with his colleague, Marc Anderson, from Robertson Civil Engineering, helped locals near the A827 at Killin who were seeing a large number of otters killed on the stretch of road.
The engineers worked for free as part of a larger team that created a protective road barrier to help otters cross without risk.
The contraption has seemed to do the trick because in the year since they installed the barrier no otters have been killed.
Bob is now the face of a campaign called ‘Engineers On A Mission’ in a bid to inspire the next generation of engineers to make the world a better place.
Bob said: “I’ve been in construction for 21 years now and I’ve just worked myself up to a construction manager.
“Robertson as a company are quite big into community engagement and in this area at Killin there is a fair number of otter fatalities in the area due to the traffic.
"Volunteers from a local wildlife group reached out to us to see if we could help and it was really quite upsetting to see what was happening to this protected species.”
The solution was installing wildlife reflectors on verges.
These work by reflecting the headlights of oncoming cars into the countryside which in effect dazzle any approaching animal by making them stop until the light is gone.
However, the driver is totally unaware of the light.
Bob added: “It’s good to know that when you work as an engineer it’s not all about construction but working on projects for the benefit of the community.”
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