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American Marten at Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Photograph by Jim Frazier (www.jimfrazier.com). Some rights reserved. |
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AMERICAN MARTEN FACTS
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Description
The American Marten is long and slender with large eyes and ears like a cat. The body is light brown with a gray head. The legs and tail are dark brown or black. Their is a cream patch on the chest. The claws are sharp and curved.
Size
Head and body length: 36cm - 45cm,. Tail length: 15cm - 23cm. Weight: males 470g - 1,250g; females 280g - 850g
Environment
northern coniferous forests, mixed hardwood forests. They make their den in hollow trees, crevices in rock or abandoned burrows.
Food
mainly small mammals such as squirrels and mice. Also feeds on insects, fruit, seeds, birds, carrion
Breeding
One to five young (called kits) are born in late March or early April in a den. The young are helpless at birth and open their eyes at 39 days. They are weaned after 42 days and reach adult size after 3.5 months.
Range
found in much of Canada from Newfoundland and Nova Scotia west to Alaska and south into parts of the Rocky Mountain range and California.
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Carnivora | | Family: | Mustelidae | | Genus: | Martes | | Species: | americana | | Common Name: | American Marten |
Relatives in same Genus
Fisher (M. pennanti)
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