Should pine martens be reintroduced to Devon?

Have you ever seen a pine marten in the wild? I bet your answer is ‘no’, because they are the second rarest mammal in the UK. They are not found in this country except in the Highlands of Scotland and in North Wales. Yet if we go back, say two thousand years, we would find pine martens were one of the commonest wild mammals. What has happened? But first let me address some fundamentals.

What are pine martens?

They are mustelids, which means they are in the same biological family as otters, stoats and badgers. They are about the size of a large cat with a long tail, and have fabulous thick warm coats called pelts - and that is part of the cause of their demise. When man discovered their pelts were good for wearing, he began hunting them. Even today the Scottish sporran is made of pine marten fur! In mainland Europe, marten pelts were so important that in Croatia, their currency is named after them, as kuna is Croatian for pine marten!

Where are they found?

Pine martens love climbing and their hind-ankles are very flexible. Their preferred habitat is woodland where they can find food, shelter, and holes in trees to avoid foxes which are one of their predators. Pine martens have a very wide diet and their commonest prey are rodents; they also eat berries particularly in autumn when they eat so many rowan berries that their scats turn bright red! They also take birds, including ground-living game birds and they love eggs.

The pine martens’ demise

As well as being hunted for their pelts, pine marten populations have also suffered because man felled trees and changed the landscape. As pine martens need cover, man’s alterations to the environment mean it became less and less suitable and pine marten populations fell. At least this was the case in England. In Scotland however, not only are humans less common, but the environment has also changed far less and so pine martens have been able to flourish there.

My acquaintance with pine martens

I personally became acquainted with pine martens when a Scots friend suggested I photograph them. This is not actually that easy because they are very shy and avoid humans whenever possible; but I learnt that they were attracted to peanut butter, and so by keeping out of their way, I have succeeded over the years in photographing them. I smear peanut butter at key locations near the house in the afternoon and then wait patiently and quietly inside the house. My cameras are linked wirelessly both to flash guns and remote triggers that allow me to take photographs. This works well when the pine marten appears near the house before it gets dark and can be seen. However, 2022 was different. Not only was it wetter than normal but the pine martens did not appear until it was dark. My preferred means of photographing them could not be used so I had to rejig my cameras to be triggered remotely with beam breakers - so the pine martens took their own photos while I was asleep!

So, back to the title question

Rewilding is now a trendy term and it could be applied to pine martens, but there are pros and cons to this question. If you want to rear pheasants or keep hens then there is an argument against having pine martens as neighbours. However not everyone keeps game birds, and there are so many reasons why we should have pine martens. They are part of our natural fauna and so I believe they have a right to exist here. If you have even seen one in the wild, you will understand it when I state they are hugely charismatic (think of bouncy ‘Zebidee’). One of their biggest sponsors is the Forestry Commission. Why? Because grey squirrels cause huge damage to forest saplings, and pine martens eat squirrels. In fact, pine martens can alter the balance between red and grey squirrels. The latter were introduced and are larger, while the former are native and smaller. Pine martens catch grey squirrels more easily and there is a reason: they cannot get so far along a tree branch than the much lighter red squirrel. A scientific study conducted over several years in Ireland recently has born this out. So, if we reintroduce pine martens, we are likely to get more red squirrels too! I think everyone would welcome that. There are many people now who will pay to see pine martens, so it is a cottage industry in Scotland but is also becoming the case in places in England.

Where have they been introduced in England?

Gloucester was the first English county to re-introduce pine martens and there are around 30 creatures in and around the Forest of Dean. These pine martens came from Scotland over a period of years, following an extensive study by Gloucester Wildlife Trust. This is well documented at www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/project-pine-marten. In fact, isolated pine martens have also been recorded recently in Hampshire, Shropshire and Cornwall.

What about the West Country?

I believe that there are many suitable places locally where human population density is low and the habitat is suitable, so that pine martens could be reintroduced. At a talk I gave recently in Tavistock on rewilding pine martens, a poll of the audience showed that around 70% felt that pine martens should be reintroduced to Dartmoor. There are a lot of procedures that need to be followed and Devon Wildlife Trust is now working on this. I look forward to their analysis of how pine martens could be re-introduced to this county.

By Peter Burkill