That the thatch is thick with moss\u00a0and crusted with the brittle fronds of lichen is not unusual for a roof of this age. What\u2019s puzzling me is the hole in its centre. It is about 10in wide \u2013 a dark scoop, as if someone has taken a giant ladle\u00a0to the roof.<\/p>\n
When I climb the ladder for a closer look, I can see toothmarks on the reed. I also see that the hole does not go all the way through \u2013 the animal obviously gave up after an exploratory burrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was probably the pine marten,\u201d says Pam Aitchison, the owner of this thatched roundhouse in a glen just south of\u00a0the Cairngorms, which I am here to re-thatch. She fed it peanut\u00a0butter and jam sandwiches for a while, but stopped when she became concerned that it might be damaging the roof.<\/p>\n
This is a first for me in 14 years working on thatched roofs. Damage by squirrels is fairly common. They can chew through reed, wire netting, roof battens and even lead chimney flashings. Rats and jackdaws are familiar culprits too, but pine martens \u2013 less so.<\/p>\n
The damaged roof looked as if someone had taken a giant ladle to it. Photograph: Tom Allan<\/p>\n
They are a regular presence in this glen, though. Bruce, a semi-retired plumber who lives\u00a0up the track, had a pair of martens nesting in the roof of his garage for a few summers. Initially, \u00a0he tried various ways of keeping them out, but in the end he decided to live with them. \u201cThey\u2019ll squeeze through anything,\u201d he said. \u201cYou cannae blame them wanting somewhere\u00a0to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tightly packed new thatch I am laying should, I hope, be less inviting to the mustelids than the soft surface of the old reed.<\/p>\n
I set to work fixing in place the bundles of water reed, which has come from just down the road, in Tayside (unlike the majority of thatching reed in the UK, which is imported from overseas). It was harvested from Britain\u2019s largest continuous reedbed \u2013 an 11-mile-long arc of Phragmites planted in the early 19th century.<\/p>\n
Originally intended as a flood defence, it is now managed by the\u00a0RSPB, and contains a quarter of Britain\u2019s population of bearded\u00a0tits, as well as marsh harriers and water rails. Thatch can be a home\u00a0for wildlife before it\u00a0goes on\u00a0the roof, too.<\/p>\n