Pine Marten (Martes martes)

Recently, unprecedented on The Island, a female Pine Marten has ventured from her den and started to visit me.

In an effort not to disturb her, these photo's were taken from behind the glass window of my cabin.

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Here, she is sitting on the roof of my car.

I have started to put some scraps out for her each evening. Having a Pine Marten on The Island is a real treat.

Mostly chestnut-brown in colour, Pine Martens have a characteristic pale yellow 'bib' on their chin and throat. They have a long bushy tail.

An elusive creature, the Pine Marten is mostly found in the North of Britain. It prefers woodlands, climbs very well and lives in holes in trees (Dens), in old squirrel dreys or old birds' nests.

Pine Martens feed on small rodents, birds, eggs insects and fruit.

Pine Martens average about 45cm in length plus a tail of 25cm. They weigh roughly 900g-1.7kg. Males are somewhat bigger. Average lifespan is up to 10 years

They can have litters of 3-5 young during Spring. The young (Kits) are independent by Summer.

This female had two kittens with her. They can have litters of 3-5 young during Spring. The kits are independent by Summer.

Looking like a Disney cartoon character, this photo was taken at dusk through frosted safety glass. As kittens, the "bib" is pure white, eventually it changes into the yellow colour of an adult.

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Stoat (Mustela erminea)

Last weekend, I spotted another mammal on The Island that I hadn't encountered before, a Stoat.
Related to the Pine Marten, the name "stoat" is likely derived from the Dutch word stout ("naughty").

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European Brown Bear (Ursus arctos arctos)

I went down to the woods today and had a totally big surprise when I encountered a sleuth of Brown Bears.

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Wolverine (Gulo gulo)

One of only two photographs I have of this relatively rare and solitary animal. The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size. It has  the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself. The Finnish name, ahma, is derived from "ahmatti" which is translated as "glutton".

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"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."
Galileo Galilei

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