Pine Martens Separated

Bonnie and Clyde, two of our pine martens, mated again this year and now we have separated them in to their separate enclosures. All that is left now is to keep our fingers crossed, and hope that she will have kits next spring after her delayed implantation.

At the beginning of next year, we will allow Bonnie to have access to the runs. This will give her not only her nest boxes, but also half of the run system to choose where to build a nest for giving birth.

If she does not have young, then I may allow her to have the run from when we separate them next year, but for this year I wanted to keep the routine the same so as not to upset her. I am also determined to get Hamish and Buttons together next year too... I chickened out this summer, with Buttons being extremely aggresive towards Hamish through the wire. We will do some more active swapping of run usage next year to try and get these two to at least tolerate each other for the summer.

Above is a short clip of me feeding Bonnie from a couple of years ago, and Clyde last night.