Appearance of pine marten may be a boost to red squirrel
The transformation has been incredible. Furthermore, the effect has not been just localised but widespread and grey squirrels have disappeared like snow off a dyke since I saw my first pine marten here.
Happily, we now have a burgeoning population of red squirrels in place of the greys. The arrival of pine marten in this area has had that transformative effect. And although my little clan of hens – all bar one - was cleared out by one of the said pine martens which still potters round with pheasants for company, the spectacle of seeing red squirrels now in abundance is ample recompense.
In essence, the pine marten is around the size of a slender cat, with a noticeably bushy tail. The orange-coloured bib, which makes this such an attractive animal, contains an ‘indentikit’ spot marking which enables us to recognize individuals.
I’ve enjoyed several sightings of pine marten in recent years, the first when I passed an old hollowed out tree which had been commandeered by one and which, at the arrival of me and my dogs, briefly caused consternation on the part of the marten. So much so that it rattled around in panic for a few minutes before calming down.
Several encounters later, pine marten sightings have been regular events with perhaps the highlight being the arrival of a female pine marten in the roof space of the house belonging to a friend, which chose that human habitation as a nursery for her young. We ended up being right royally entertained that summer! The latest sighting this week was brief but heartening.
Like all carnivores and birds of prey, pine marten had, of course, been on the ‘hit list’ during the nineteenth and early 20th centuries, regarded as ‘the enemy’ and mercilessly pursued and slaughtered. Hunting man came up with a particularly nasty way of eliminating martens. They would work to isolate them in trees, then light a bale of straw or other damp vegetation which would consequently emit lots of smoke.
A huntsman would scale the tree, the smoking bale mounted on a pole would be passed to him and it would be thrust at the trapped marten which blinded by the smoke and in not a little panic would fall from the tree into the jaws of waiting hounds.
There was an easier method, of course, which was to have simply shot the martens! Doubtless in their panic when pursued, the pine martens would have shrieked and growled, giving the impression that they were doughty opponents. Such things apparently counted with the huntsmen of the day!
Foxes, badgers and even hedgehogs were treated with such disdain and slaughtered wholesale. All that counted was the game, keepers were paid to protect.
Thankfully times have changed although there are still those who, given the chance, would maintain that level of persecution. Strange to think that the Ancient Greeks, actually kept beech marten – a close relative of the pine marten – as pets as a means of controlling rodent populations.
Such was the impact on pine marten that they came close to joining the polecat, the osprey and the sea eagle on the extinction list, just managing to hang on in small numbers in some of the remoter parts of the Highlands. Indeed, I well remember seeing pine marten on Ardnamurchan many years ago – a really rare sight.
In 1981 the pine marten at last received the protection of the law thanks to the Countryside Act of that year. Thus began their slow recovery and eventually, the spread of pine marten across Scotland.
Following their demise in areas such as this, another major change to have occurred was the introduction to Britain of the grey squirrel from America. The earlier generations of pine marten would clearly have not known grey squirrels at all but with a new generation able to extend its range, they soon encountered the alien greys – an unexpected bonus for them.
The grey squirrel has, of course, displaced the native red squirrel right across the country except in the Scottish Highlands. Grey squirrels do not kill reds but they out-compete the smaller animals for food sources.
The grey is roughly twice the size of the native red and carries a disease called squirrel pox to which they are immune but which is deadly to reds. However, also being heavier than red squirrels, greys are slower and therefore easier to catch.
This has meant that expanding populations of pine marten, which found themselves in grey squirrel populated areas, enjoyed a real benefit.
I can confirm that when I first arrived here over 40 years ago, this area was choc-a-bloc with grey squirrels. However, as more and more pine marten have established themselves locally during recent times, red squirrels have taken over the vacant territories of the greys. Of course, pine marten also take red squirrels but because squirrels are lighter, they are able to reach the branches which are unable to bear the weight of pine marten, therefore giving them a far better chance of surviving.
The fact that the pine marten is now being reintroduced to places such as the Forest of Dean in the south of England, where of course grey squirrels are completely dominant, acknowledges that they are able to do a job in controlling grey squirrel numbers.
It is to be hoped that this new generation of martens will seriously reduce grey squirrel numbers there and that red squirrels can mount a recovery, albeit that this may require assistance from wildlife lovers to help them on their way such as their reintroduction.
Those, who in their wisdom, introduced grey squirrels to Britain, could not have known that this would have had such a deleterious effect upon red squirrels.
However, now there is a chance to restore the balance with the spread of pine marten which it should be remembered has largely happened quite naturally.
These arboreal mammals add another dimension to our wildlife and their presence is an added bonus for those for whom wildlife is such an important factor.
Such is the overall distribution of grey squirrels that reds are now excluded from vast swathes of the British countryside.
The introduction of pine marten to key areas may help us in the longer term to re-establish red squirrels to the exclusion of greys and I cannot think of a more natural process.
Introduce pine marten and in time perhaps, the red squirrel will once more reign supreme!