MUSTELID ON THE MOVE

This little fellow is a pine marten Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758). It belongs to the Mustelidae in which family there are five other species native to Britain – badger, stoat, weasel, otter, polecat, plus two introduced mustelids, the American mink and the feral ferret. Pine martens are relatively large carnivores for our part of the world. They weigh 1.5kg or more and are long-bodied (c.0.5m body and a 25cm tail). They have a population base in the Highlands of Scotland where they favour a largely arboreal life pine forest. That said, there are other established populations, for example in Wales after successful re-introduction, and several records in northern England. In the south of England, there have been reintroduction efforts, too. 

The surprising news is that one has recently been seen in London, recorded by a camera trap, where pine martens have not been seen seen for over a century. It is thought that they may have spread from one of the reintroduction programmes, but the nearest is over 100km away according to the Zoological Society of London.

So, as they are spreading, it is not impossible that you might see on one of our sites. They are shy and secretive, though, so you would have to be very lucky. They love to climb and have a useful adaptation whereby they can partly retract their claws. Being mustelids, smell is of great importance in their lives and all have well-developed anal glands to deposit their particular aroma so, even if you can’t see the animals themselves, you might find their faeces with which they mark their territory. Look for them on stumps, rocks or fallen tree trunks. They are often a bit wiggly as pine martens jiggle their bottoms when they defaecate, but the giveaway is their faeces’ sweet, musky odour which is described as “parma violets”, a Mediterranean plant used for the widely available eponymous confectionary with the same characteristic scent. Faeces with a nasty smell will not be from a pine marten.

Betts Ecology would love to hear from you if you think you have seen evidence of a pine marten on one of our sites. Those of you who have camera traps in your garden and are lucky enough to record one, do please tell us.

 © Betts Ecology