animal pad print

swifts need our help!

firstly I'm stoopid for not putting a coin in for scale. I can go back tomorrow.

This partial print was below severe damage to a sand martin colony. The first two are on the ground. The third is on the bank

swifts need our help!

the damage

ZX7R

They look like stoat tracks to me. If it is a stoat they are a protected species.

WildIreland

They look too big for stoat tracks. Mink was the first thing that popped into my head -- or badger perhaps. A coin for scale would certainly help.

That level of damage is unreal!

olly_mac

This may be helpful. I think mink, by the way.

Cork boy 55

I don't think its a badger
A badger would have 5 "toes" prints and you should see pads as well

I go with something like a stoat maybe a fox.

swifts need our help!

I thought fox but the toes are too wide apart. I didnt go back today due to rain.

swifts need our help!

north bank damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--GgLmvL_ko

south bank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4egJMhO-HG8

fryup

would an otter do that??

pine marten? but then again its not pine marten territory is it?

Eddie B

Im thinkin Otter! Must be a large animal to do so much damage and a Badgers toe's almost run in a straight line whilst these prints are more rounded like those of an Otter!

dodderangler

That my friend is a mink
And that's exactly type of damage they'd do
Worst part is it prob didn't eat all of what it killed

swifts need our help!

sorry guys, and any girls, another day gone and I never got back to take more photos.

The site is a building site nowhere near water. The site is centre of the link. The pale line running across the site is/was the colony
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=bush+house+bush+road+antrim&hl=en&ll=54.731324,-6.195388&spn=0.005786,0.013797&hq=bush+house&hnear=Bush+Rd,+Antrim,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=16

I dont see how a predator, badger, fox or ... , can reach holes 1.3m, ,shoulder height, off the ground

dodderangler

1.3 metres isn't that much for a mink there's a video On YouTube of a mink jumpin up and climbing in a kingfisher nest and it's a good height aswell
They are quite relentless when it comes to hunting

WildIreland

I'm still thinking mink is the most likely culprit... still hard to be sure without a more complete print / sense of scale, but if pushed I'd opt for mink. You'd be amazed how well they can climb -- digging those claws into that clay a mink would practically run up a vertical bank.

This is a prime example of why they're such bad news for our native wildlife.