Limousin Lass Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 We were sat in the glorous sunshine we had yesterday watching our dogs investigating around the banks of the lake when we noticed something swimming across the lake, it climbed one of the poles of the duck enclosure and disappeared. From what we could see at a distance with the naked eye it was too small to be a rangodin and too big to be a rat or water vole so think it must have been a marten or something like that but not sure if they can swim.ThanksSylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex H Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Scottish ones can [:D]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6470777.stmSorry its not a proper link - I'm a Firefox fan[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Toadstool Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 It says in my book that stone martens can swim but your animal could also have been a mink - either American or European. These can swim and tend to live around rivers. Actually I think almost all mammals can swim but the thing is whether they want to!!Pix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Could have been a coypu. We saw one disporting itself and enjoying going in and out of the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limousin Lass Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 Thank you all for your replies. If it was a marten of some form is it dangerous to the ducks, geese and chickens that we have, I know they will steal the eggs but will they harm the fowl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex H Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Indeed, I think you may have a problem there [:(]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_Marten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limousin Lass Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Oh dear, as we are surrounded by forests I think we will always have this problem so it looks like we will have to re-instate the electric fence the previous owners had put up because they were duck breeders, we still have all the fencing in place just a matter of reconnecting the electric and clearing around the bottom of the fence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 [quote user="Limousin Lass"]Thank you all for your replies. If it was a marten of some form is it dangerous to the ducks, geese and chickens that we have, I know they will steal the eggs but will they harm the fowl?[/quote]They killed 6 of my 7 chickens a few weeks ago, my fault left the door open at night. They are crafty little chaps, just one mistake and they are in. If you think you have them then you need a fully enclosed chicken shed for the night time and lock them away at dusk. Make sure there is no way they can get in via holes etc.And yes they do swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Limousin Lass Posted January 28, 2008 Author Share Posted January 28, 2008 Sorry about your chickens it must be horrible to go out and find that in the morning. Out of interest how do you know it was a marten? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 To be honest I never even knew what one was before. I am sure we must of been told about them at school in the UK but it was soooooo long ago.Basically my neighbour and the way they had been attacked and the lack of other animals in our area, like we just don't have fox's down here. There are big(ish) wild cats of the Lynx family apparently but they wont cross the rive, I have no idea why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now