Following the great reception given to the cute seal pup featuring in my last post I thought I’d spark off a search for the UK’s cutest native species!
Visitors to the UK love to discover the richness and diversity of the UK’s fauna, and with everything from hedgehogs to dolphins populating the British Isles and its surrounding waters, we have much to enjoy! Although our status as an island has meant that continental species such as the wild boar and brown bear have been hunted to extinction in the British Isles, it is still home to a great selection of native creatures, many of which rank highly in the cute stakes…
Dolphins
Swimming with dolphins is on most people’s bucket lists, and although you’ll probably need flights to Florida in order to actually swim with the creatures and touch them, you can enjoy dolphins from a distance at various locations in the UK. The best areas for dolphin-spotting mainly focus around Cornwall, Devon and Scotland. Prawle Point in Devon, Cardigan Bay in Wales and Moray Firth in Inverness, Scotland are all good spots to catch a glimpse of these amazing creatures.
Hedgehogs
Otters
Otters have been returning to England’s rivers since the 1970s thanks to greater controls on water quality and the banning of otter hunting in Britain in 1978. Part of the weasel family, otters are the top of the food chain in Britain’s river environments, and carry a healthy dose of charm with it!
Squirrels
Seals
Now if these creatures don’t warm the cockles of your heart I have no idea what will. The UK boasts colonies of both grey and common seals, which can be seen at locations such as Cornwall, the Moray Firth, Blakeney in Norfolk and the Orkney Islands.
Swans
OK so adult swans are generally described as being ‘graceful’ and ‘elegant’ rather than cute, but signets certainly fit the bill here (puns aside). Surely making a mockery of the legend of the ugly duckling, these fluffy white creatures are far from it!
Deer
Dartmoor Ponies
The Dartmoor Pony is a semi-feral protected species native to Britain, which roams freely across Dartmoor in Devon. The species is a hardy one, and has to be to survive the harsh conditions on the open moors, but is also placid and well-natured, being used as breeding stock for riding ponies.
Foxes
Certainly not exclusive to the UK, being found in most northern hemisphere countries, but the red fox is certainly a handsome beast. Fox cubs rate well on the cuteness scale, and city dwellers in the UK are probably more likely to spot plucky urban dwelling foxes than those out in the countryside.
Ducks
Rabbits
Robins
These brightly-coloured, dumpy little birds contribute significantly to the UK’s birdsong soundtrack, even singing at night around streetlights. Renowned for being the ‘gardener’s friend’, robins are relatively bold and unafraid of humans, and Britain even has its own subspecies – Erithacus rubecula melophilus – which is slightly different from the continental robin.
Do hedgehogs make good pets?
Who’d have thought they could look so cute?
no they are wild animals not pets. only help them if they are injured
totally agree Natalie
Hi Paul, yes cute but best left in the wild
Yes, hedgehogs do make nice pets, lots of people keep them. You can buy domesticated ones called “African Pygmy Hedgehogs,” I think you can get other breeds but they are the only domesticated breed I know of. To save the money, personally i’d go and track down a baby one before it’s eyes have opened and keep him
By the time it has grown up it should be tame to you 
I had some fox cubs living in my back garden in London for a while! They were super cute – loved watching them caper about while the vixen kept watch…
Hi Robert yes they get a bad name don’t they but really great animals once you learn and watch
In Umbria, staying in a rental with friends, we could not understand why in the morning one or the other of us would find just one of a pair of sandals shoes missing, disappeared, gone…. until one early morning I spotted a young fox in the garden worrying one of the missing shoes to death!
Too cute for words, we made sure he had (our oldest) shoes to steal and play with after spotting him!
awww great story Carmelita, sounds like you had a good plan too
The deer is awesome!
Great animals Davo, yes… Cheers
Nice list…not enough UK and Europe wildlife posts out there! The second hedgehog photo looks like an African Pygmy Hedgehog / White-Bellied Hedgehog.
They CAN make decent pets, but I don’t recommend it. They’re quite small (smaller than your hand when full grown), can be litter trained, are solitary animals in the wild, love to eat spiders, bugs and other insects…BUT they’re not cuddly creatures, can be quite smelly and can be quite susceptible to cold and large temperature fluctuations.
Thanks for the comment and great info.
Brilliant post! My favorite photo is the one of the three ducklings exploring the world, toooo cute
Hahaha yesss there’s something about them, maybe it’s their sillywalk or the innocent look on their faces. They’re funny creatures. It always makes me smile when i see the first ones swimming around.
haha yes. the walk. Comical fellows
Def the hedgehog is my fave – I know that’s very boring and predictable
Oh my gosh!! I love the otter! That’s my fav!
hey Joyce
Otters.. Yes great to see them in the mix. Hedgehogs are winning I think can you believe?
The hedgehog is a cutie! They would probably be my second choice
haha thought so
I also love them coz they are God creature
Thx for the comment Donalt
Oh they are ALL lovely. I cant choose. Otter, hedgehog, even the dolphin. I am not much help I’m afraid. Oh go on then – The Otter. : D
Another Otter lover?
Hard to choose isn’t it? 
I do like Otters, they are cute and cheeky!
Agree totally
:)
These are beautiful photographs…cute,,the dolphin has to be my favourite. He’s smiling!;D
Hi Paul, They are beautiful creatures,,i agree swimming free they look amazing! Dolphins have a max of 3 leaders within each group, they follow the most experienced for specific activity. There are 32 species of ocean Dolphin and 5 of river Dolphin…their core body temp is 36 degrees whilst humans is 37 degrees their brain weight is 1500 – 1600 gms the human brain is 1200 – 1300 grams! X
Wow, amazing knowledge and thanks so much for passing it on
I will be in touch for more for sure
OK, so you have dolphins, ducks and rabbits in Britain, great :/
All great for adventure
Yeah… British is better than American ;D
They are so cute
Hi Bobbie, yes I know, hard to decide isn’t it?
Oh gosh, what absolutely fab pictures. Well done for getting these, and again for sharing. Happy day
Thank you so much.
Hoopoe is my favourite… too bad it’s not on the list. And nuthatch, and great tit, and blue tit… Robin, ducklings, cygnets and the ponies are cute too!
Great thanks,,<3
i love animals..<3
Swans and Dolphins are great..:)
I like the Dolphins as I am a friend of the dolphins they are lovely.
I like the baby ducks as well.
All the animals shown are great,cute or even majestic in their own natural enviornment but I’m afraid the humble hedgehog does it for me, just love them.
All your pictures are fabulos love them all,But while there the squrrils were so so cute and scurried about collecting nuts watched them for ages in Hyde Park Love these wee guys as we don’t have them here in NZ The foxes were lovely too see as well we don’t see them either here.
Dolphins all the way! There’s just something extra about seeing them, going back to Wales this year to hopefully see them again
You can’t beat seeing them swimming free, where they belong.
The favorite image: Dolphins? Squirrel or Rabbits or Robins? Tough to decide. They all are so cute. Thanks for sharing.
Tis too hard isn’t it?
thx
I am definitely a fan of the otters, they’re surprisingly clever creatures yet look so cute!
I love them too Charlie.. yes very clever