The pine marten
The elusive pine marten
THIS ELUSIVE ANIMAL WAS HUNTED to the brink of extinction during the 1800s by those who coveted its highly prized pelt and gamekeepers who saw it as a threat. Like many wild species, they also fell prey to habitat fragmentation. However, thanks to the conservation efforts of organisations such as The Vincent Wildlife Trust, in recent years the pine marten (Martes martes) has started to make a comeback. Now mostly limited to a few remote areas in the UK, including the Scottish Highlands, populations are beginning to spread south to Northumberland and Cumbria, and in 2015, for the first time in a century, one was seen in Shropshire. As they don’t hibernate, pine martens are most easily spotted in the depths of winter, particularly as they have to travel up to 20km a day in search of food. A fresh snowfall also makes it far easier to see their distinctive prints, which often appear in an unusual pair formation, as they adopt a bounding movement to navigate through the drifts.