A walk by the edge of woodland near Dollar brought the reward of a pine marten bounding towards me along the edge of a boundary fence.
The animal soon saw me and halted in its tracks to eye me up, before it quickly fled the way it came, startled by my sudden appearance.
Although the view was brief, it was still long enough for me to appreciate the animal’s rich dark brown coat finished off with a creamy yellow bib and the long bushy tail.
The early 20th century naturalist Frances Pitt was so taken by the pine marten that she wrote: "Imagine it as remarkably graceful and nimble, with an expression of intelligent curiosity, and you will have some idea of a most beautiful being."
Until the 19th century pine martens were widespread in Scotland, but relentless persecution and high demand for their luxuriant soft pelts soon saw the population plummet.
Records from one estate alone near Glen Feshie in the Cairngorms revealed that 246 pine martens were killed between 1837 and 1840 alone.
Such enthusiasm amongst landowners to rid their land of pine martens was probably in the most part misplaced, for rather than being an avid devourer of game, their diet comprises principally voles, mice, rabbits, small birds, insects, berries and fungi.
By the early 1900s the pine marten was only holding out in remote areas of the north-west Highlands.
But since the Second World War there has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes, with afforestation and a more enlightened attitude to their presence helping to fuel a quite remarkable recovery.
In 1988, pine martens were afforded full legal protection.
Pine martens now occur throughout much of Scotland and are well-established in several parts of Clackmannanshire.
The pine marten is an excellent climber and will often make its breeding den in a tree hollow or in a bird or squirrels’ nest.
Pine martens, which are members of the weasel family and slightly larger than a ferret, are largely nocturnal and notoriously hard to spot.
However, their musky-scented droppings are frequently deposited on paths and other prominent places, and often when walking in woodlands by the Ochils, I discover such signs of their presence.
In recent years there has been the intriguing suggestion that the growing pine marten population may be playing a role in helping halt the spread of the grey squirrel, which has displaced the red in many areas.
The grey squirrel spends more time on the ground than the red and is not so agile in the branches as its smaller cousin, which means they are easier to catch and thus likely to be regularly preyed upon by pine martens.
Certainly, in the Dollar and Muckhart areas, red squirrels are faring better than greys, and it would prove a marvellous twist of fate if the pine marten turned out to be the saviour of the red squirrel in the Wee County.
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