WILDLIFE
 
Despite the French fondness for hunting – and you can regularly hear guns being fired in the distance on Sundays in autumn – there is still a remarkable variety of wildlife in Brittany. Otters are spotted regularly on the River Vilaine and there are still wild boar in the local forests.
 
 
Apart from otters one can also catch sight of water vole, polecats and mink. The American mink, released from captivity, is rapidly displacing the native European mink. These animals are likely to be seen from river banks.
 
 
There are also the usual garden visitors – moles, foxes and badgers. Frogs and toads are common, and are welcome in the garden. We also have slow-worms, which are actually lizards, but are often mistaken for snakes. Rabbits can be seen playing at the roadside and we see the occasional weasel running across the road as we drive.
 
 
There are hedgehogs, though not as many are seen squashed on the roads as in the UK. Occasionally you might be lucky enough to catch sight of a brown hare, though their numbers are low because they are a favourite quarry of the huntsman. Pine martens are a mixed blessing – they steal chickens but are very effective in controlling rats.
 
 
There is no shortage of bats. The two varieties we are aware of are the Pipistrelle and the Long-eared bat. It is a favourite occupation of many of our visitors to sit outside in the evening with a glass of wine (very important!) and watch the bats perform their acrobatics against a darkening sky.
 
We had two unusual visitors to the garden last summer, both insects - a stick insect and a praying mantis (both completely harmless) - proof that the climate here in south Brittany is very pleasant. After all, we have less rainfall in the year than they have in Nice!) Someone else in Loire-Atlantique reported that they too had found a praying mantis in the garden, so it could be due to climate change or simply an unusually dry year.
 
A praying mantis in the Morbihan
There's a stick insect here....
Our most common shield bug