Pine Martens helped in Wallington
Pine martens were once the second most common carnivore in the UK. Due to clearance of woodlands their numbers were reduced to a few remote areas around the UK, although a strong population survived in some parts of the Scottish Highlands.
Wallington has an estate of over 5300 hectares. Within the estate they are improving habitats and recruiting volunteers to monitor pine marten numbers and locations.
Pine martens take their name from their habitat, living mostly in woodland and preferring to spend most of their time in pine trees, though they will also live in scrub, rocky areas and crags.
The pine marten has a slim body and a long thick bushy tail. It has brown fur with a creamy-yellow bib on the throat and chest. The fur becomes shorter and darker in summer. Adult pine martens are similar in size to a medium-sized domestic cat with males approximately one third larger than females. The pine marten is extraordinarily agile and is a very confident climber. are related to weasels, ferrets, polecats and otters.
They are rarely seen in daylight. They sleep in dens which they make from a crevice among rocks or in hollows under tree roots. Pine martens are also active throughout the winter.
Pine martens have been known to live to 18 years in captivity, but the maximum age recorded in the wild is only 11 years, with 3 to 4 years being more typical. They reach maturity at 2 to 3 years of age.
Despite being classified as carnivores, pine martens fit into the ecosystem by eating a varied diet and will eat what is locally plentiful. This includes small mammals, fruit, birds, eggs, insects and carrion. The also eat squirrels, although they are one of the few predators agile enough to catch a squirrel and eat significantly more grey squirrels than red squirrels. This is due to grey squirrels being bigger, slower and spending more time on the ground. So they are helping the red squirrel population.
The young, called kits, are usually born in late March or early April in litters of one to five. Young pine martens weigh around 30 grams (1.1 oz) at birth. The young begin to emerge from their dens around 7 to 8 weeks and are able to leave the den from around 12 to 16 weeks.
