VIDEO: Adorable pine martens play hide and seek in Aberdeenshire

This great footage taken at Castle Fraser shows two  pine martens playing hide and seek in the estate grounds.

The carnivores are one of six species from the weasel family (mustelids) native to the National Park.

The others are badger, otter, stoat, weasel and pole cats, however the latter of these has been extinct in Scotland for over a century.

The American mink is a non-native mustelid which is now very scarce here following a concerted control programme.

Cairngorms Nature shared the video on Facebook saying: “These two martens could be males defending territory or two of last year’s siblings playing.

“It could even be a female defending her territory against one of her young from last year.

“What this is unlikely to be is a romantic encounter. Mating takes place in the summer and the females experience delayed implantation, which means the fertilised egg doesn’t start to develop until January.

“She will then give birth to 2-3 kits in March or April.”