Loop trail of Chalets du Truc by Maison Neuve

It is a cave species, which means that it digs cavities in trees in order to install its nest and deposit its eggs! These cavities are called "lodges".
These lodges are often reused by other species, which are then called "host species", which can be birds, such as small mountain owls (Little Owl or Tengmalm), or mammals, such as the Pine Marten, a mustelid, cousin of the Weasel.

Do you know the smallest nocturnal birds of prey in France? It's the Eurasian pygmy owl, a little mountain owl! It is an emblem of the nature reserve where it lives in particular in old coniferous forests. Its presence is linked to good forest management, preserving both its breeding areas (old trees where woodpeckers such as the Three-toed Woodpecker peck holes in which Pygmy Owls nest) and areas of forest clearings, where it can hunt mice, voles, tits and other passerines on which it feeds.

As its name suggests, it has only three toes on each leg while the other woodpeckers have four toes!
It is however very agile in climbing trees, and is the nightmare of xylophagous insects, which feed on wood, and in particular the Spruce Bark Beetle, the main ingredient of its daily menu!
Be discreet, its drumming, a way of communicating by tapping its beak on the trunks or branches, is not very audible. The nature reserve is one of the few areas where this species is still present.

A spindle-shaped apparition... A plain white body during the winter or a brown back and beige belly in the summer, with the tip of its tail black all year round... Guess who is playing hide-and-seek in the scree?

It is the Stoat, a small, fast and powerful mustelid, from the same family as Badgers and Martens. It actually doesn’t play but it hunts Voles, its favorite prey, thanks to its slender body which allows it to slip into the voles underground tunnels, where this prey unfortunately feels save.

It is a small insect of nearly 5 millimeters, belonging to the order Coleoptera, which also includes scarabaeid beetles, ladybirds and other chafers.
It wreaks havoc, especially on its host tree, the spruce, because it is a xylophage, which means it feeds on wood. Its name refers to the small cavities it digs under the bark, in order to mate out of sight and deposit its eggs.
Woodpeckers, and in particular the Three-toed Woodpecker, are one of the best natural regulators for Spruce bark Beetles.