It climbs very skillfully and hunts almost mercilessly: it is the marten, from which also the saying “you are a marten” comes, certainly not to define tame, generous and peaceful subjects. This animal falls into the category of medium-sized mustelids and has decidedly nocturnal habits, as we will soon describe. Its scientific name derives from the Latin Martius , which means belligerent, it is in fact a very active carnivore: being also an excellent climber, it is one of the most adaptable and eclectic species around.
Marten: dimensions
Let’s start to imagine this animal by revealing its dimensions. It will certainly be very bellicose but it is not a huge beast, it can be 40 to 60 centimeters long , of which 20 are those of the thing, soft but very compact. If you want, a marten can be easily picked up even by a child, since it weighs a maximum of a couple of kilos.
Marten: characteristics
The body is rather slender and covered with a shiny hazelnut brown coat , not uniform. In fact, there are some darker parts, such as the legs, and lighter parts such as those at the height of the muzzle and forehead. There are those who, jokingly, say that these animals wear socks to hunt at night without being heard. Even on the throat and neck the fur changes color, turning towards whitish shades that continue down to the belly. From the muzzle, slightly flattened and with very long tactile whiskers , round ears emerge with a curious white edge.
Marten: what does it eat?
Like many carnivores, this animal also has a substantially omnivorous diet based on the consumption of berries, fruit, eggs and honey, although it does not disdain small animals, such as rats, chickens, birds. To avoid chewing problems, it is equipped with very robust teeth, furthermore its upper jaw and lower jaw can open at a right angle, this is important because it allows it to bite even very large prey.
There is a rumor that the marten sucks the blood of its prey , but to date this is an unverified hypothesis, while it is true that it has a tuberculated molar per jaw with which it attacks its prey by the neck because it is the easiest part to hit.
Beech marten: reproduction
During the mating season, which usually falls in the summer, these animals form small family groups and the male mates with all the females present in the territory. Only the winning male can do this, obviously, after fierce fights with his contenders. The cubs are born in spring, because the development of the embryos is delayed in February, and usually about 3 or 5 can be born at a time. The mother weans them for about a year, then they begin to live independently and usually live up to 11 or 12 years of life on average.
Among the skills of martens, among those that make them effective and resistant animals, there is that of climbing very agilely and, just as agilely, passing through tiny openings, like a true contortionist. This allows them to reach prey that other animals dream of catching. It seems that, as a habit, they kill many more than they would need to feed themselves. Meanness? How can we say it? It would be an animal instinct defined as “surplus killing” .
Faina: where does she live?
Such an animal, which is also active mainly at night, prefers open and mostly rocky spaces, while it does not like large open spaces. We can often find it in places such as barns, uninhabited houses and attics, but we should not be surprised to find it at night on the edges of roads and at the edges of the woods where it hides in tunnels and tree cavities.