Marten -American martens are small, rare members of the weasel family. The American marten is sometimes referred to as a pine marten due to the similarities shared with their European pine marten relatives. Their fur is soft and thick, varying in color from pale buff or yellow to reddish or dark brown. The animals' throats are pale buff; their tails and legs are dark brown. Two vertical black lines run above the inner corners of their eyes. In winter, long hairs grow between the toe pads on the American martens' feet. These keep the feet warm and enable the animals to travel on snow.

American martens have long, bushy tails that are one-third of their total length. Like other species in the weasel family, they differ in size according to sex. The female is about three-fourths the size of the male.

Sometimes people confuse American martens with another member of the weasel family. Fishers live in similar habitat and have similar tracks. However, they're larger (females 20-27 inches, 4-8 pounds; males 30- 40 inches, 7-15 pounds) and darker than American martens.

Little is known about the habits of American martens since they can be active at night and usually are very shy. Unlike most members of the weasel family, American martens (and fishers) are excellent climbers. They'll pursue prey, such as red squirrels or chipmunks, up a tree and may climb trees to avoid danger. Martens move across the ground in a zig-zag fashion, often followed by a series of jumps. They're solitary but curious animals. Click image at left to view marten tracks.

American martens live in mature, dense conifer forests or mixed conifer-hardwood forests. They prefer woods with a mixture of conifers and deciduous trees including hemlock, white pine, yellow birch, maple, fir and spruce. Especially critical is presence of many large limbs and fallen trees in the understory, known as coarse woody debris. These forests provide prey, protection and den sites. In the past, the cutting of large areas of mature conifer forests destroyed much marten habitat.

The size of a male American marten's territory is 1-3 square miles, while a female's may range in size from 0.5 to 1.0 square miles. Martens generally cover their entire territory every 8-10 days as they hunt. Neither males nor females will tolerate another American marten of the same sex in their territory. A male, however, will allow several females in his territory.

American martens are mostly carnivorous, but at certain times of the year feed extensively on wild fruits. Even though they're at home in trees, they do most of their hunting on the ground. They have a high metabolism, thus require a lot of food for energy. This intense need for food makes them easy to trap.

Mice and other small rodents are martens' primary prey, but they also eat squirrels, hares, shrews, birds, bird eggs, amphibians, reptiles, insects, fish, crayfish, nuts, fruits and carrion. In the winter, martens will tunnel under the snow in search of mice and other small mammals.