Pine Martens in the Bike Shed - video

Although rare in most the the UK, Pine Marten are quite common in our part of the Scottish Highlands.

We've had them visit our garden ever since we bought our house more than ten years ago, so we've seen the generations change.  We've encouraged them because they've never been a problem.  Until now.

One day this week I opened the bike shed and found several piles of Pine Marten scat.  What's more, the poo was full of nuts.

The bike shed is an extension of a much more robust shed in which we store, among other things, the peanuts we put out for the birds.  The Pine Martens were using the relatively easy access through a hole in the roof of the bike shed to then gain access to the second shed and the nuts.


My camera trap caught not one but TWO Pine Marten - and they are amazingly vocal.  Take a listen.


I patched up the bike shed roof to close the hole through which they were entering and I also boarded up the gaps between the two sheds.  Even if they got into the bike shed, they wouldn't get across into the nuts.

The first part of this failed - the Martens found a relatively weak link in the roof and ripped at it with their claws and teeth until they could break into the bike shed.  But they didn't manage to get into the second shed and reach the nuts.  A partial success.  So I patched up the roof again and this seems to have done the trick.


Will they be discouraged from breaking in to the bike shed now they know it leads nowhere?  I certainly hope so because the shed almost flooded through he hole they tore.

They are very strong, inventive creatures.  We used to keep the bird nuts in a box in the greenhouse.  See what happened with that.



If you'd like to see a higher quality film I made about our Pine Marten, check out the video below.