pine martins

[Bertie1]

we  bought a house in the northern Indre last year, and happily told our friends to use it for a holiday.  On the first night, they heard lots of odd loud noises and when these continued, they decided to wait up one night and see if they could find out the cause.  A very cross pine martin emerged!  (We have an undeveloped area of the roof with a high small open window)Any suggestions as to how we can  get rid of it? Do we need to get a specialist in?  I presume that if we can get rid of it, we just need to get  the window blocked up.  Are there any deterrents anyone knows of please?  As a city dweller, I have not had much experience of them!

 

[derf]

It's almost certain to be a Stone Marten (Fouine) in French, there have been lots of references on this forum to them over the last few years, try a search on fouine and martins, you can then see what other people did to try and get them to leave.

They are very difficult to get rid of, you can buy a large trap and bait it with eggs but if you are not there all the time it may smell a bit when you arrive. You can try and block all entry points but they can get through very small holes, and once they have taken up occupancy they are very reluctant to leave.

We had a holiday home in the Dordogne  and a fouine as a lodger for 10 years, we let the new owners keep it, we did not leave a forwarding address.

Good Luck.

[Happy Expat]

We have several pine martens (north 47) but none have yet taken up residence. We see them occasionally as if we sit quietly on the balcony they will walk around the top of the wall!

Bob & Jane

[Krill]

Our neighbours told us they were beech martens, they showed us in a French book

[Anton Redman]

Moving in full time made ours move on.

Closing up all the entry holes to the roof with them out of the house is a good idea.

Neighbours recommended wearing rubber gloves then treating raw meat with tupicide(mole killer) and tossing it into the loft. Pleased to say it had no effect.

Movement detectors and ultrasonic alarms are sold in DIY sheds and are claimed to work.

If they are pine martins I would say their droppings are the most malodious substance ounce for ounce that I have encoutered anywhere in the World.

[hoverfrog]

we had a martin (pine or otherwise) that killed all our chickens. One of the neighbours trapped it and killed it. Apparently they kill chickens to drink the blood if the martin has babies, and they will return if there are any more chickens in the vecinity. All local heresay - but the new chickens have been unmolested so far!

[Athene]

[quote]we had a martin (pine or otherwise) that killed all our chickens. One of the neighbours trapped it and killed it. Apparently they kill chickens to drink the blood if the martin has babies, and they wi...[/quote]

Be careful if it is 'fouines' they are a protected species! We have had them and the last time we were in France one had fallen down through the shaft that was round the bathrooms' ventilator unit and what a mess it had made! Unmentionables on my chest of drawers and the wallpaper had been clawed off as it made its escape back to the roof cavity! We now have closed the gap and, although we know they may come back to the roof, we hope we will not get a visitation in the house!

[Val_2]

My brother had fouines in his french home and they peed everywhere in the loft space which eventually soaked through the ceilings and left a dreadful smell and mess. Block up where you can to stop them getting in although that is near impossible to do.