Marten
Scientific Name: Martes americana
Martens are a member of the weasel family. They are larger than weasels and smaller than fishers, with a bushy tail and partially retractable claws. Coat coloring ranges from yellowish brown to reddish brown with the legs and tail darker than the rest of the body. The color of the head and neck is lighter with cream-colored to light orange patches on the throat and chest. They have rounded ear, a pointed nose, and triangular head shape.
Adult size: Up to around two feet in length from nose to tip of tail.
Weight: 1.5 to 3.5 lbs with female smaller than males
Life span: Martens may live up to 17 years in captivity, in the wild closer to 10 up to 15 years.
Maturity: 2 years
Litter size: Marten can have up to 5 young although 2 or 3 is most common.
Fun Fact:
Martens are both shy and curious, they may be difficult to find and observe but you might catch them peaking in your Adirondack cabin window when you least expect it!
Diet
Martens are omnivores. Favorite prey items include voles, mice, and red squirrels but they also consume berries, nuts, flying squirrels, rabbits, other small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and birds.
Habitat
Found in coniferous and mixed forests, especially spruce-fir and mixed beech-conifer forests.
Behavior
Martens are semi-arboreal. They can leap 15 feet from a tree into snow to capture prey. They are most active at dusk and dawn but can flexible on what part of the day or night they are active depending on the activity of their current prey during the season. The are primaily solitray except for during mating season.
Martens maintain several dens within their home ranges (averaging around 2 sq mi for males or closer to 1 sq mi for females). They may den in downed logs, under stumps, or in old Pileated Woodpecker nesting cavities.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Pregnancy lasts 9 months in marten although they have delayed implantation so the fetus develops in the last few months of pregnancy.
Population Status
Distribution has remained restricted to the Adirondack and Tug Hill regions of New York, despite habitat and prey elsewhere in the state, although evidence suggests they are stable.
Viewing
They are most abundant in the old growth forest of the Adirondack High Peaks.
Range
By the 1930s the range of the marten had shrunk from covering most of the state to a core area in the central Adirondacks. Since then, reforestation and limited trapping has lead to their expansion over much of the Adirondack park (except the far southeastern section) even into area just north of the park within the Sable Highlands and into the Tug Hill region.
For more information on Marten in New York please visit the NYSDEC page here.