Memorial erected to Shadow the Botanic Gardens cat

THE death of Inverness Botanic Garden’s beloved cat Shadow was a “devastating” blow for staff and visitors alike.

The free-to-enter attraction is popular with visitors from across the Highlands and beyond.

But the city’s favoured green space has a new feline friend in the form of Ginger George who has taken up the mantle of making everyone feel welcome.

Facilities manager Ewan MacKintosh said the new addition, who unlike Shadow, has a more of a nomadic presence around the gardens than his predecessor who was almost a permanent resident.

Ewan said: “His name is Ginger George but he is not here quite as often as Shadow was because he doesn’t live here like Shadow used to.”

Speaking about Shadow’s death earlier this year, he added: “Everyone was pretty devastated. Everyone loved Shadow.”

A memorial to the cat now features on the new glasshouse in the gardens as the old structure from the 1930s – since taken down and replaced – was one of the moggy’s favourite haunts.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.