Abstract
THE increase of many species of British birds due to war-time changes in the countryside has already been noted in NATURE. Evidence is now accumulating to show that many British mammals are likewise increasing, and one of the most welcome is the pine-marten, which had reached a dangerously low population in many districts. Reports were recently made of its presence in North Wales at Bettws-y-Coed (Field, Jan. 1943), and in Scotland in the Forestry Commission and deer forest areas of the Highlands and in a cairn in the Grampians (H. M. Batten, Scotsman, Jan. 30, 1943). In Lakeland it has recently been reported from Ennerdale, The polecat is also increasing in the wilder parts of Great Britain. Foxes have increased at an alarming rate in most parts, even where there were no organized hunts as in Lancashire, while in Lakeland, where the Eskdale Hunt killed a record total of sixty foxes in January, there is considerable controversy over organized fox hunts.
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British Mammals in War-time. Nature 151, 247–248 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/151247d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/151247d0