Secret Lives of European Mammals

Bats have been in existence for fifty million years. No wild animal- except for the rat - lives as close to man as the bat. Yet, the general public hardly knows anything about that flying mammal which is shrouded in numerous superstitions. The bat, which plays a major role in the environmental balance, eat sixty thousand insects every summer ; however some of its populations are endangered. The film features the species of bats living in Europe, their habitat, their way of life as well as the European scientists who have been studying and protecting them.

Present throughout Europe, the stone marten is nevertheless an unknown animal. Extremely difficult to film due to its nocturnal habits, this animal is practically nonexistent in animal documentaries. Often confused with its cousin the forest marten, we will discover in this monograph that the stone marten occupies many of the same places we do -- from the countryside to cathedrals and even major cities like Paris. By following the evolution of a stone marten family we learn of this musteline's reputation as an egg thief and boisterous nocturnal creature. We begin in March in a barn full of hay inhabited by a family of stone martens. We will see what an exemplary mother the stone marten is as she teaches her young to search for food while defying their human neighbor. An excellent jumper, swimmer and climber, the stone marten is impressive at finding the objects of its search: voles, eggs, fruit, food scraps. Especially playful at night, the young stone martens sometimes lack the stealth of their adult relatives and their antics make for a touching scene. At the end of spring, they enter an unknown territory where they frequently cross paths with their greatest enemy -- man -- who remains unaware of their presence. The stone marten, on the other hand, is keenly aware of man in order to avoid him. Throughout this monograph we see the usual animals of the countryside living close to man, often in the same house (voles, owls, hedgehogs, weasels, etc.). Although man may be the master of the house during the day, if there is a stone marten around, it rules the house at night.