What do martens live in

During winter, martens have thick, dark brown fur and an orange throat patch. Their summer coat is lighter in color and texture. Broad feet and fur-covered soles enable martens to travel on top of deep snow, but they often tunnel under the snow in search of prey.

Martens prefer mature coniferous or mixed-wood forests. These areas provide important prey habitat, protection from predators, and denning and resting sites. Historically, martens were common in the forests that covered much of North America.

Loss of habitat and trapping eliminated the species in the southern portion of its former range. Martens are related to mink, otters, badgers, wolverines, weasels, and skunks. What do martens look like? Pine martens are very agile and can climb high up in the tree tops. They are slender with a pointed face and a bushy tail. Their tail helps them balance in the trees. Male martens are larger than females. They are about the same length as a house cat.

These cute animals are between inches long including their tail which is from inches long. They only weigh between pounds. Pine martens are brown with paler underparts and dark brown legs. They have small rounded ears and sharp teeth for eating meat.

Where do martens live? Martens prefer old coniferous forests in Northern climates. The Border Country is an ideal habitat for them. Martens like old growth forests best because there are plenty of dead trees to find food and shelter in. An old forest has a thick canopy that provides shade for the ground cover which stays dark and damp. This environment is ideal for small animals such as voles and squirrels. What do Pine Martens like to eat? Pine martens spend a lot of time searching the forest floor for rodents.

Martens prefer to eat Red-backed voles. They will also eat other species of voles, mice, birds, flying squirrels, reptiles, and rabbits. Martens will eat honey, insects, conifer seeds, worms, eggs, and even berries. How do Pine martens hunt? Martens are fast, strong, and agile. They have lots of energy and leap from tree to tree zig zagging to find flying squirrels. They also forage along the ground poking their heads into crevices in rock piles, hollow logs and holes in search of prey.

Sometimes they stalk their prey like a cat and other times they pounce at them from above. In England, a small marten population is now surviving in Shropshire, and saw the start of a reintroduction of the pine marten to the Forest of Dean , led by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. In suitable areas of England, including the south-west, other reintroductions are being considered.

In , the first footage of a living pine marten in Yorkshire for 35 years was taken, and in , conservationists captured footage of a pine marten in Northumberland , proving that the mammal had returned to the forests.

This means that many woodlands will not be large enough to sustain sufficient numbers of pine martens to maintain a viable breeding population. Any proposed translocation of pine martens must be considered very carefully and comply with IUCN guidelines on translocations , whether for reintroduction or reinforcement re-stocking. The importance of animal welfare and health screening is emphasised in these guidelines, as is the requirement for a detailed ecological assessment.

Pine martens are mainly nocturnal, live at low density and are largely solitary. As a result, they are very difficult to see. In areas where martens are present, their characteristically curled and cylindrical-shaped droppings, known as scats, can sometimes be spotted.

In Britain, the best place to see pine martens currently is in Scotland. If possible, please try and take a photograph or video. The Vincent Wildlife Trust is a wildlife charity focusing on mammal research and conservation in Britain and Ireland.

Increasingly, the Trust also works in mainland Europe. Home Animal Facts Mammals Pine marten guide: diet, habitat and why they are rare. Pine marten in Inverness, Scotland. Pine marten. Pine marten scat. Pine marten at a feeding station. Vincent Wildlife Trust Social networks.