American Marten

Name

• Common name: American Marten
• Scientific name: Martes americana
• Order: Carnivora
• Family: Mustelidae
• Indigenous names for this species may be available through the Yukon Native Language Centre. 

Also known as

Pine Marten, Marten

Viewing opportunities

• Martens are furtive and secretive and leave few signs of their presence. You might catch a glimpse of one stealing from your campsite.
• Daybreak and twilight hours are best for marten viewing where you might see them hunting voles in a meadow or mature spruce forest.
• The best time of year to look for marten is in the late fall and early winter when juveniles disperse.

Description

• Sharp, pale face, stand-up ears, black whiskers.
• Long weasel body and long bushy tail.
• Pale buff to dark brown fur with a patch of orange at the throat.
• Large furry feet, semi-retractable claws.

Fast facts

• Length: 50 cm
• Weight: 0.5 to 1.4 kg
• Lifespan: 10 years but they average 5 years
• Predators: Raptors, lynx, bears, wolves
• Habitat: Boreal Forest

Conservation status

What is conservation status?

• Yukon: S5 (Secure)
• Global: G5 (Secure)

Yukon population estimate

Not determined

Behaviour

Martens are solitary, except for mating season and while a mother is raising her young. They each have an approximately 5 km² territory where they live and hunt. They are carnivores and don't store food for winter months so they are always searching for food. American Martens have limited body-fat reserves and lose body heat rapidly. They will frequently rest to conserve energy, tunneling under the snow to a warm cavity in a hollow log or tree stump. To further conserve energy, they may even go into daily torpor, where they reduce their metabolism and body temperature and stop moving for a short period of time.

Diet

Voles, deer mice, squirrel, lemmings, shrews, birds, eggs, hare and carrion.

Distribution

Sights and sounds

American Martens and people

• Marten skins were used to make fur robes for higher-class persons. "Wealth woman," a mythical figure known to the Tagish, Tutchone and Tlingit people, wore such a garment.
• One of the most cost-effective furbearing animals to trap. Because it is curious, the marten is also one of the easiest animals to trap. This makes it vulnerable to over-harvesting.
• The biggest effect on marten populations is loss of habitat from large forest fires and clear-cut logging.