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Den boxes for pine martens – design, installation and checking

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Photo credit Adrian Hinchcliff

The pine marten is one of Britain and Ireland’s rarer carnivores that is now recovering in Ireland and Scotland and subject to population reinforcement in Wales. One constraint affecting populations is the scarcity in modern woodlands of elevated, insulated den sites in which pine martens prefer to rest and breed. Purpose-built artificial den boxes have been developed, tested and refined in Galloway Forest since 2003. Their frequent use by pine martens for breeding and resting has informed their deployment in many other areas of Britain and Ireland.

Course tutors: John Martin and Johnny Birks

Principles of den box design

                Maximising insulation and minimising heat loss

                Refinements to prolong the life of boxes

                Heavyweight and lightweight options

Selection of box locations

                Selection of trees for box attachment

                Density of boxes installed

Installation of boxes (including Risk Assessment, PPE etc)

                Ideal height of boxes

                Safe us of ladders

                Safe lifting of boxes

                Orientation of boxes/protection from weather extremes

                Methods of attachment to tree

Checking den boxes for use by pine martens

                Legal considerations

                Animal welfare considerations

                Health and Safety considerations

                Evidence of box occupancy

                Invasive and non-invasive sampling of pine marten genotypes

Long-term den box monitoring

                Information to record

                Annual checks of box condition

                Moving boxes in response to harvesting

 

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