The Château Has Other Residents

 Yes. What you are noticing around Château Marouatte fits remarkably well with the wildlife of the Dordogne countryside. The combination of old stone buildings, woods, meadows, farmland, ponds, roof spaces and relatively dark nights creates many different habitats in a very small area. Grand-Brassac itself is within a region recognized for substantial biodiversity. 

The Château Has Other Residents

One of the things I have begun to notice during my stay at Château Marouatte is that we are certainly not the only ones living here.

The Château has residents with wings, residents with six legs, and apparently at least one mysterious resident who has taken up quarters somewhere above my ceiling.

The Hornets

I have seen some impressively large hornets here.

The native European hornet, Vespa crabro is considerably larger than the yellowjackets we commonly call “yellow jackets” in the United States. It has a substantial body, with yellow and darker reddish-brown markings, and its size alone can make it rather intimidating.

There is another possibility in this part of France: the invasive Asian hornet, Vespa velutina. It is now widespread in France. The two are fairly easy to distinguish once you know what to look for. European hornets have much more yellow across the abdomen. Asian hornets appear predominantly dark, with a yellow-orange abdominal band and conspicuously yellow ends to their legs.

So without a close photograph, I wouldn’t try to identify which species you have been seeing.

And I think “respectful distance” is an entirely appropriate relationship with either one.

The Yellow Ones

The smaller, bright yellow-and-black insects darting around food, flowers and outdoor tables are likely yellowjackets, called guêpes in French.

Late summer is precisely when they become particularly noticeable. By September their colonies have reached large populations, and workers become frequent visitors around ripe fruit, sugary foods and outdoor meals.

That explains why they seem to be part of Château life right now.

My Favorite: The Praying Mantis

Then there is one of the most extraordinary insects I have encountered here: the praying mantis.

The European mantis, Mantis religiosa, occurs in France and looks almost impossibly exotic when you encounter one sitting quietly in the vegetation. Its elongated body, triangular head and enormous folded front legs make it look less like an insect and more like some tiny creature from another world.

Those “praying” front legs are actually formidable hunting equipment. The mantis sits almost perfectly still and waits for another insect to wander within reach.

Finding one here seems particularly appropriate. The Château grounds contain exactly the sort of sunny grassy and shrubby places where mantises can hunt.

And, unlike the hornets, this is one creature I am delighted to get closer to with my camera.

When Darkness Falls, the Château Changes

The wildlife becomes even more interesting after sunset.

I have been hearing owls.

Several owl species occur in this part of southwestern France. A local owl survey describes France’s nocturnal raptors, including the tawny owl (Strix aluco), barn owl (Tyto alba) and little owl (Athene noctua). 

The tawny owl is an especially plausible source for a classic woodland owl call. This is an owl of woods, mature trees and park-like landscapes, all of which surround the Château.

The barn owl is another wonderful possibility. Old agricultural buildings, barns, towers and similar structures have traditionally provided nesting and roosting places for them. In fact, conservationists in Dordogne specifically install nesting boxes for barn owls in old village buildings and churches. 

So when I lie in my room at night and hear an owl somewhere outside, it isn’t merely atmospheric. This old Château and the countryside surrounding it really are owl country.

The Daytime Chorus

The birds I hear throughout the day are part of an equally diverse community.

The broader Périgord landscape supports everything from robins, blackbirds, finches and woodpeckers to hoopoes, cuckoos, swallows, buzzards and black kites. Regional biodiversity records also include kingfishers and numerous woodland birds. 

That variety makes sense when I look around me. Within a short distance there are ancient trees, woodland edges, open fields, stone walls, gardens, water and buildings full of ledges, holes and protected corners.

To a bird, Château Marouatte must look rather like an enormous apartment complex.

And Then There Is the Thing in the Roof…

This one particularly intrigues me.

There is something living above us, around the roof or eaves.

Without seeing it, I can’t identify it confidently, but there are several very good candidates.

My first suspect would actually be a bat.

Dordogne has an exceptional diversity of bats. Species recorded in the region include pipistrelles, long-eared bats, greater and lesser horseshoe bats and several species of Myotis. Regional records specifically confirm the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) in the Dordogne landscape. 

And old buildings are extremely important to them.

The tiny lesser horseshoe bat weighs only about 4–9 grams, yet has a wingspan of roughly 19–25 centimeters. It feeds on moths, flies and other flying insects. Like other bats, it benefits enormously from old structures that provide quiet cavities and sheltered roosts. 

But if what I am hearing is scratching, scampering, thumping or something apparently running across the roof space, rather than faint rustling or fluttering, I would move bats farther down the suspect list.

Then things get interesting.

The Dordogne countryside has stone martens (Martes foina), called fouines in French. They are slender nocturnal mammals related to weasels and are notorious for occupying attics, barns and roof spaces. The region also has garden dormice (Eliomys quercinus, lérot) and other dormice that can use old buildings. A Dordogne wildlife account specifically describes bats using shutters, cellars and attics, stone martens establishing themselves in attics, and dormice occupying roof spaces. 

A stone marten would sound surprisingly substantial overhead. A dormouse would generally produce lighter scampering and scratching. Bats are more likely to produce subtle squeaking, scratching and fluttering, particularly around dusk when they emerge.

So I now have a little Château mystery.

Who lives above me?

A Château That Is Still Very Much Alive

Perhaps this is another reason I am becoming so fond of this place.

A building this old is not isolated from nature. Nature has incorporated it.

The cracks between ancient stones become hiding places. The deep eaves become shelter. Attics become nurseries. Towers and barns become potential owl territory. Gardens feed insects. Insects feed mantises, bats and birds. The pond creates another miniature ecosystem entirely.

The Château isn’t simply sitting in the Dordogne landscape.

It has become part of that landscape.

During the day there are birds calling from the trees, mantises waiting motionless in the vegetation and yellow-and-black insects investigating the gardens. At dusk, bats may emerge from centuries-old crevices. After dark, the owls begin calling across the property.

And sometime during the night, something may scurry through the ancient roof above my room.

I don’t necessarily need to know what every one of them is.

There is something wonderfully appropriate about staying in a Château that is hundreds of years old and realizing that some of its smallest inhabitants have discovered exactly what I have:

It’s a pretty wonderful place to stay.