Madam, – If your correspondent of June 18th (“Councillor in a flap over pine martens”) had checked with me or the official record of the county council meeting he might have got the facts of what I said.
The matter arose out of a presentation to the county council proposing to nominate Clonmacnoise as an international heritage site. It was the ramifications of this proposal and the associated consequences or restrictions on people living maybe miles away that led to a lively debate in the county council chamber. The questions: what about somebody wishing to build a house on the edge of Athlone 10 miles north of Clonmacnoise; and would the Shannon water level at Clonmacnoise be preserved so that even the hope of land drainage upstream would disappear, were asked.
I said that the experience in the Burren was that an area unique in Europe, if not the world, with flora such as alpines and other exotics, had existed for centuries in that state, but as soon as the (so-called) managers interfered and curtailed the commonage use (along with the natural “managers” such as wild goats), the place went wild and taller species such as hazel, holly etc, flourished.
I suggested that there have recently been seen in the Midlands ravens, eagles and pine martens, and that it’s conceivable that all these had been introduced from other parts of this country by well-meaning environmentalists who should know better. In over 40 years in this area I had not once seen such creatures until very recently.
The ravens and the eagles are birds of prey and the pine marten is a beautiful creature to behold being very dark brown in colour with a rich orange “flash” from his chin to his chest, for all that he is as big as a medium cat and his jaws and mouth-parts are so strong that they can sever the neck bone of poultry with a single chop. I have been shown the results of his exertions and it was not a pretty sight – and no it wasn’t a mink it was a pine marten and no he is not a bird, he’s an animal as I said, like a cat. – Yours, etc,