Here’s looking at you kit

Young pine martens, or kits, are making their first forays from dens deep in tree cavities this month.

Once one of our commonest mammals, second only to weasels in their abundance, pine marten populations plummeted between the 16th and 19th centuries. The semiarboreal mustelid was hit by woodland fragmentation and the popularity of their pelts (valued both for warmth and fashion), swiftly followed by their persecution as vermin. With a bounty on their heads, pine martens were pushed into pockets of the Highlands, and the uplands of Wales and northern England, and were close to extinction by the early 20th century.

Thankfully their fortunes are now changing. Between 2015 and 2017, pine martens were translocated from Scotland to mid-Wales, with a reintroduction to the Forest of Dean beginning in 2019, and Scottish populations spreading south. Although considered woodland specialists, pine martens have shown themselves to be adaptable as they reclaim their former haunts.

As the kits explore their mothers’ extensive territory, this is a great time to find their distinctive coiled scat (droppings), often deposited in prominent locations. Pine martens’ diet includes small mammals such as bank voles, along with insects and birds, and their fondness for autumn berries often turns their scat purple.

FIND OUT MORE

Read about the conservation efforts of Back from the Brink: naturebftb.co.uk

Plus, see our pine marten guide from the Vincent Wildlife Trust: discoverwildlife.com/pine-martens