I’m sitting at the New Chitose Airport waiting to leave the island of Hokkaido, Japan after a weeklong animal-finding trip. There is lots of information online about travelling around and finding animals on Hokkaido, which I used to great advantage before coming here. For the most part I don’t think I have anything useful to add to all the information out there. Jon Hall’s report from this past January was particularly useful to me but included the frustrating news that there was no longer a reliable site in Hokkaido (or anywhere) for sable (Martes zibellina).

A few days ago, to my surprise and by sheer luck, I was able to see two sable over the course of a single evening! The first was at a private residence, but the second was at a nearby guesthouse where I was staying, Papilio. In both cases the sables were attracted to bird feeders and seemed pretty habituated. The sable at Papilio seemed particularly fond of suet, because it was dangling from the suet feeder when I first went to look for animals just after dark, and there again when I went out again at 11pm to try for a second time to find flying squirrels (I failed to find the squirrels*). All in all, the sable was present around the guesthouse more-or-less continuously from about 7:30pm to 11:30pm. Therefore, though I realize I only have a single evening of data, I think that anyone planning on going to Hokkaido who would like to see sable would be well advised to consider booking a night or two at Papilio Guesthouse.

I also saw Sika deer, red fox, and Eurasian red squirrel as well as plenty of excellent birds. If you want a guide to help you find animals on Hokkaido I highly recommend Mark Brazil.

*I wish I had known last week what I found online just now: flying squirrel tours in Hokkaido at Lodge Lucky Field!