Last week I mentioned a pine marten stealing fat from bird feeders. Years ago, we learned very quickly to hang up fat and suet at our feeders with wire hangers or place it in metal cages because the martens chewed through everything else and took off with the yummy food.
Pine martens, also called American pine marten (Martes americana) to distinguish them from the European pine marten, are common here but notoriously shy. They prefer to live in old and mature boreal forests, both hardwood and conifer as well as mixed forests.
They like lots of downed wood that they can use as runways to move easily across the forest floor as well as hunt underneath during the winter. They are also strong climbers.
They can be seen around the Bulkley Valley, but usually we only see the tracks in the snow. If you snowshoe, watch for their 2 x 2 loping tracks up in the subalpine forests.
I have seen them on several occasions down in the valley resting in the trees and once sunbathing on a log next to my compost heap.
One warm spring morning while birding in an aspen stand, we discovered one sleeping close to us on an elevated tree trunk. It opened its eyes as if to acknowledge it knew we were there and then carried on sleeping and ignored us.
They are a medium-sized weasel with a pointed head, large eyes and ears rounded like a cat’s. The body is covered with long shiny hair, grey on the head, lighter brown on the back and almost black on the legs and tail. The chest has a beautiful cream-coloured patch.
Male bodies are 35-45 cm long and slightly bigger than the females.
They are fearless predators and have extremely strong jaws and sharp teeth.
I will never forget the amazing and scary story told by wildlife biologist Eric Lofroth who was studying pine martens near Houston. He and his assistant found one in a live trap, but it was injured so they placed the trap in the cab of their pick-up and headed off to the vet.
Suddenly “all hell broke loose” because the marten had escaped from the trap and was roaring around and around the truck over top of the dash and around the back of the seats. Somehow, they managed to stop driving, capture it and get it back into the trap before anyone was hurt.
Pine martens are doing well in most of Canada now, but their numbers declined severely in the 1800s to 1840s due to pelt collection and loss of forested habitat.
They are still considered threatened in Newfoundland and Labrador.