I tried the nature hike recently and I wasn't sure how it was supposed to go but got a couple of challengers. I also found something that wasn't on the cards but couldn't get anything more. When I kept trying, I started to wonder if it was a scootle but it ran off. Is there anyway of getting it back or was that my only chance?

Thanks

The entire thing was a process of getting the Scootle acclimated to you and so on. Originally, it took players - myself included - about five to seven days to get a Scootle through the Nature Walk. There should be a teeny Scootle somewhere on the image once it starts popping up and you basically have to win its trust.

Fret not and have patience. c:

That's the thing though, because when I originally found it and until it ran away was clickable. Also very noticeable but now I can't see it anywhere and nothing is clickable. When I found it, I didn't have any spare slots and I'm not sure if that was the problem.

Then I misunderstood. If it ran away, wait a day, try again.

I think I've found it again - seems to be following me.

you have to click on it once each day for a few days. if you click on it a second time on a given day, you'll get a message saying you "scared it off" but this is just to confirm that you have, in fact, interacted with the scootle for that day. it doesn't actually "scare" it. each day it will progress to the next part of the trail, and on the final day, you will receive a popup message asking if you want to take it home with you, at which point you'll be able to adopt one.

I got the pop up today. So my new scootle is -Karma- , which I find to be quite appropriate. After all I hadn't considered if I actually wanted one when I went hunting them lol. So it's kinda karma that I ended up with one.

Do they always come as genderless or am I just lucky?

They're genderless by default, since snails in real life function kind of as both for reproductive purposes.

(most but not all snails)