Pine Martens Spread Across Northern Ireland: From Attics to Gardens

Pine martens, one of Northern Ireland\’s rarest native mammals, have been appearing in unexpected locations, from attics in County Armagh to gardens in Lisburn and even on a busy, multi-lane road near Belfast city centre. These sightings highlight a growing trend of these elusive creatures venturing into urban environments.

Once nearly extinct in the region, pine martens survived in the woodlands of County Fermanagh, the Glens of Antrim, and the Mournes. Today, they are found across all six counties, and their interactions with humans are becoming more frequent. The discovery of a pine marten on Belfast\’s Albertbridge Road in July was described as \”astounding\” by the Ulster Wildlife Foundation. According to Ross McIlrath of the foundation, this suggests the animal had to navigate through an entire urban landscape to reach the area near Lagan Bridge.

Reports of pine martens have also come from Belvoir Forest on the outskirts of Belfast and Redburn Country Park near Holywood. McIlrath explained that male pine martens can cover territories up to 25 square miles. While it is likely a young animal exploring for new territory, its presence in urban areas is still surprising.

Dr David Tosh, a lecturer in Terrestrial Ecology at Ulster University, noted that pine martens have been appearing on the peripheries of Belfast for several years. He said it was not entirely unexpected for one to be found deeper in the city. \”Ireland has one of the lowest levels of woodland and forest cover in Europe,\” he said. \”There just isn\’t enough natural habitat for these species. If they had these spaces, they wouldn\’t be coming out of them.\”

Tosh suggested that the spread of pine martens could lead to more sightings in urban areas in the future. \”In Europe, there\’s the stone marten, a very similar species that lives in urban environments,\” he said. \”From what we know about the pine marten, they\’re incredibly adaptable, so I don\’t see why they wouldn\’t be able to.\”

Dr Tosh also highlighted that throughout Ireland, there has been an increase in pine martens using people\’s roof spaces to breed and live. In Fermanagh, there are numerous instances of this, and he has also visited County Armagh where people have reported them in their homes. \”Given the number of houses in Belfast, whether occupied or unoccupied, there\’s potential for them to find places to stay,\” he said. \”If there\’s rubbish lying around, they\’ll be nibbling on whatever they can find.\”

He emphasized that the spread of pine martens is nothing to fear and that it is exciting to witness their population rise. \”They\’re smaller than most people\’s pet cats, they\’re not big beasts that would be roaming the streets,\” he added. \”This is them recovering themselves, so it\’s a good news story.\”

Paddy Lowry, who lives in south Belfast\’s Hampton Park near Belvoir Forest, had an unusual encounter after a barbecue in June. While in his kitchen with his son, they noticed an unusual visitor. \”We\’d left a bin bag a few yards away on the other side of the patio window and looked up to see this thing eating from the bag,\” he said. The next morning, he used a wildlife camera at the end of the garden and saw the creature again that evening.

Lowry initially thought it might be a weasel, but the Ulster Wildlife Foundation confirmed it was a pine marten. \”It was quite a thrill because it\’s terrible to say but it was getting a bit mundane to see the same fox and badgers and plenty of cats coming through, so it was nice to see something unusual,\” Mr Lowry said.

\”It\’s really cool to see this species which was nearly extinct in Northern Ireland making a comeback to the extent that it\’s starting to be seen in gardens,\” said Mr McIlrath of the Ulster Wildlife Foundation. \”They\’ve recently arrived on the outskirts of Derry/Londonderry city, which is great to see.\”

Pine martens are omnivores, but their favorite prey includes the grey squirrel. In Fermanagh, the almost total disappearance of grey squirrels and the re-emergence of red squirrels is largely attributed to pine martens. \”One species making a comeback can help more species and our wider woodland health,\” Mr McIlrath said.