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May 11, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum

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The pine marten in Scotland The European pine marten (Martes martes), known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine, and weasel. Their bodies are up to 53 cm (21 in) in length, and their bushy tails can be 25 cm (10 in). Males are slightly larger than females; typically, martens weigh around 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). Their fur is usually light to dark brown and grows longer and silkier during the winter. They have a cream- to yellow-coloured "bib" marking on their throats. Habitat Their habitats are usually well-wooded areas. European pine martens usually make their own dens in hollow trees or scrub-covered fields. Martens are the only mustelids with semiretractable claws. This enables them to lead more arboreal lifestyles, such as climbing or running on tree branches, although they are also relatively quick runners on the ground. They are mainly active at night and dusk. They have small, rounded, highly sensitive ears and sharp teeth adapted for eating small mammals, birds, insects, frogs, and carrion. They have also been known to eat berries, birds' eggs, nuts, and honey. European pine martens are territorial animals that mark their range by depositing feces (called scats) in prominent locations. These scats are black and twisted and can be confused with those of the fox, except that they reputedly have a floral odour. In Great Britain, the species was for many years common only in northwestern Scotland. A study in 2012 found that martens have spread from their Scottish Highlands stronghold, north into Sutherland and Caithness and southeastwards from the Great Glen into Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Tayside, and Stirlingshire, with some in the Central Belt, on the Kintyre and Cowal peninsulas and on Skye and Mull. The expansion in the Galloway Forest has been limited compared with that in the core marten range. Martens were reintroduced to the Glen Trool Forest in the early 1980s and only restricted spread has occurred from there. Diet & Lifespan The diet of the pine marten includes small mammals, carrion, birds, insects, and fruits. The European pine marten has lived to 18 years in captivity, but in the wild, a lifespan of 8-10 years is more typical. They reach sexual maturity at 2-3 years of age. Copulation usually occurs on the ground and can last more than 1 hour. The young are usually born in March or April after a 7-month-long gestation period in litters of one to five. Young European pine martens weigh around 30 grams at birth. The young begin to emerge from their dens by the middle of June and are fully independent around 6 months after their birth. Threats Although they are preyed upon occasionally by golden eagles, red foxes, wolves, and wildcats, humans are the largest threat to pine martens.

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