Pine marten at Aspenwood

A cloudy but dry week so we carried out some messy but vital outdoor maintenance jobs at the cottage,clearing the gutters of moss and leaves,washing windows,putting new plants in the tubs, pruning the buddleia bush and general leaf clearing around the cottage. While scrubbing out the bird bath we noticed that the metal suet ball feeders which should have been attached to the fence were on the ground minus the suet balls. Birds or squirrels could not have been so strong to have done this so it could only have been a pine marten. We imagined him rolling the suet ball home to the waiting family. Last week the green netting surrounding one of the large suet balls was ripped to shreds so we had our suspicions then.The feeders have now been replaced with much stronger metal ones and tied tightly to the hooks on the fence. These creatures have been captured on video by guests staying in the cottage a couple of years ago. They were eating for quite a while at the peanut feeders in the early evening.