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Small Mammals seen by visitors to Aspenwood
Pine Marten
You may be lucky enough to glimpse the elusive Pine Marten which are about the size of a cat and have been seen in the area around the cottage mostly at night - although this photo was taken in the early evening.
They are easily identifiable by the general dark brown of its fur that contrasts with the creamy throat patch. They enjoy eating blaeberries, small mammals and insects.
They are also very agile climbers and one of the only predators that can catch red squirrels by darting through the trees as it chases them.
If they know there is a food source available they will become quite bold and turn up regularly waiting to be fed - like this cheeky female who had young waiting nearby.
See our local wild Pine Marten Video clip being hand fed!
Red squirrels are present in the woodland of Farigaig Forest surrounding the cottage and can often be seen running around the grounds and jumping effortlessly from tree to tree.
Red squirrels can be seen all year round as they do not hibernate in
Winter - unlike the grey squirrel which does not inhabit the Highlands
of Scotland although they do become less active in Winter, burying
nuts as a winter store. There are plenty of nut-bearing hazel trees
in the vicinity and the magnificent oak producing tempting acorns.
They also feed on pine cones and the local forest is abundant with
coniferous trees.
We have seen a squirrel carrying its young in its mouth several times
at Aspenwood in the Spring/Summer.
We have a new bird bath and more nut feeders and nut balls outside the lounge
attached to the fence, not only to attract the teeming bird life but also entice
the red squirrels. We know they 
are about as guests have told us they have seen
the squirrels run along the fencing and they have also been guilty of demolishing
2 lightweight nut feeders, now replaced with a more sturdy screw top variety.
Native red squirrel (right) seen in Farigaig Forest in November.
Badgers
are in the area. There is a large sett - a system of underground
burrows - next to the cottage in Farigaig Forest and badgers have been
seen and heard rushing through the undergrowth at nightfall. A fully
grown badger is about 1 metre long with long, course, greyish hair on
the back and a white face with a broad black stripe along each side.
They have crushing molar teeth adapted to a partly vegetable diet and
short strong legs with long sharp claws suitable for digging up their
favourite food – earthworms - strange choice for such a large animal.
They also dig for roots, mice, insects and a variety of fruit and nuts.
Tribes of feral
goats roam the area and have been seen locally at Whitebridge
and at Boleskine. They have coats of various combinations of black and
white, but they also occur with brown or even silver hair. The billy
goats have splendid long horns which are not shed like deer antlers but
continue growing. They have annual growth ridges on them which give an
indication of the animals age. They mate in October/November when there
is a lot of fighting between the males. Kids are born in January or March
in areas above 1000ft. They are very nimble footed and wander and breed
on inland cliffs, sea cliffs and open stony ground. On our journey to
Applecross on the west coast we had to stop for a mother and kid which
ran across the track road and down the cliff bank to the shores of Loch
Torridon.
Although foxes are mainly nocturnal, they might be
seen at dusk during the mating season from early January to mid February.
It is not unusual to hear the triple bark of the dog fox followed by
the answering scream of the vixen. They nest in holes in the ground and
in dense thickets. At night foxes forage over a wide area often becoming
quite bold in winter time in their search for food. We have seen a fox
in the grounds of Lower Birchwood House.
Brown Hare are often seen at dusk running along the
narrow lanes in front of vehicles before darting suddenly into a nearby
field.
The weasel is Scotland’s smallest carnivore – the male being slightly
larger with a head + body length of 8 inches long and the smaller female being
6 inches in length. Their small size is well compensated by their fierceness
in hunting. They are often seen rapidly crossing roads or sitting upright to
gain a better field of vision for their favourite food of mice and voles. They
have a brown coat and tail with whitish underparts.
Stoats are slightly bigger than weasels and have a distinctive black tip to their
tail. Most of the stoats in Scotland turn a creamy-white colour in winter but
always retain their black tail tip. 
Dense cover is essential to these two carnivores
as they are a favourite meal to birds of prey or larger mammals.
There are plenty of wood mice and field voles inhabiting the forest and fields
nearby although they might not actually make an appearance. Despite their very
small size they are an important link in the food chain for a wide variety of
animals and birds including fox, stoat, badger, pine marten and various species
of owls and birds of prey.
