This is the moment an adorable pine marten sneaks into a house to take an egg left out as a snack.
The pine marten and her three kits are regular guests at a holiday home in Ardnamurchan, Highlands.
Neil Bletcher, 59, often leaves food, including peanuts and sultanas, out for the critter and her family who pop in through the window for a snack when he visits on weekends.
The egg was left uncooked as the animal would eat it if it came across one in the wild.
She is extremely careful not to break the egg, which she carries out in her jaw.
They do not hang around long and Neil, who works as a park ranger at Finlaystone Country Estate, Renfrewshire, said he is too scared to pet the animals in case they bite.
Neil said: “There are a family of six pine martens at my holiday cottage.
“She’s been coming in for a number of years.
“I’ll put an egg out for her and leave the window open.
“I can sit about two feet away and she’ll come right in and take the egg.
"Pine martens are very gentle with eggs.
"They take eggs in the wild if they come across a bird's nest.
"She did break one once when she was a kitten.
“She’ll probably stash it and eat it at another time.
“Or sometimes she’ll take it outside and eat it.
“There’s a lot of protein in them so it helps them in the winter.
“She’ll bring her kittens in as well.
“I don’t feed them all the time and I don’t live there full time.
“It’s just a wee treat that I give them when I’m up there.
“They seem to know I’m there because I put the wood burner on, they seem to smell the smoke.
“I don’t leave the window open - if she’s in the garden, she’ll stand up and make herself known.
“Then I’ll put the egg out, open the window, then she’ll come and get it and I’ll close the window, because you don’t really want pine martens running around the house.
“I wouldn’t want to try and pet them either - I value my fingers too much.
“I sometimes put down sultanas and peanuts and veg.
“She was born in spring 2019 and I call her Spotty Cheeks because of the spots on her cheeks."
The pine marten and her three kits are regular guests at a holiday home in Ardnamurchan, Highlands.
Neil Bletcher, 59, often leaves food, including peanuts and sultanas, out for the critter and her family who pop in through the window for a snack when he visits on weekends.
The egg was left uncooked as the animal would eat it if it came across one in the wild.
She is extremely careful not to break the egg, which she carries out in her jaw.
They do not hang around long and Neil, who works as a park ranger at Finlaystone Country Estate, Renfrewshire, said he is too scared to pet the animals in case they bite.
Neil said: “There are a family of six pine martens at my holiday cottage.
“She’s been coming in for a number of years.
“I’ll put an egg out for her and leave the window open.
“I can sit about two feet away and she’ll come right in and take the egg.
"Pine martens are very gentle with eggs.
"They take eggs in the wild if they come across a bird's nest.
"She did break one once when she was a kitten.
“She’ll probably stash it and eat it at another time.
“Or sometimes she’ll take it outside and eat it.
“There’s a lot of protein in them so it helps them in the winter.
“She’ll bring her kittens in as well.
“I don’t feed them all the time and I don’t live there full time.
“It’s just a wee treat that I give them when I’m up there.
“They seem to know I’m there because I put the wood burner on, they seem to smell the smoke.
“I don’t leave the window open - if she’s in the garden, she’ll stand up and make herself known.
“Then I’ll put the egg out, open the window, then she’ll come and get it and I’ll close the window, because you don’t really want pine martens running around the house.
“I wouldn’t want to try and pet them either - I value my fingers too much.
“I sometimes put down sultanas and peanuts and veg.
“She was born in spring 2019 and I call her Spotty Cheeks because of the spots on her cheeks."
Category
😹
Fun