Stone Marten

Luna let out for a quick walk before bed, started barking. She had "trapped" a marten up a tree on the drive. They are constant companions on our property but seldom spotted running around.

They can cause a lot of problems, particularly to car engine rubber parts. Over 200,000 p.a.  cases of damage reported to car insurers. Actual number must be much higher as most damage is under €150 and thus not covered. Damage can run into thousands if they damage cooling pipes and the engine blows up!

They are also to be found above or near our chicken house but as with the cars, they don't tend to attack things on their own territory, perhaps steal the odd egg. Gets dangerous when you park your car overnight somewhere else and a "foreign" marten spends the night there. It may attack the car when it smells your marten's presence or indeed when you return home, your marten may smell the visitor & go wild.

There are 100s of gadgets you can buy or tricks but none seem to be very effective.

Naturally, we left our friend alone once Luna had been praised for her attentiveness.