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Monday 27 February 2017

Pine marten

Pine martens are members of the weasel family and get their name from nesting in the roots of pine trees.

They are native to Northern Europe and North America. Though struggling now, they were once Britain’s second most common carnivore.


In 2013, a pine marten held up a Swiss football match for five minutes after it ran onto the pitch and bit Zurich defender Loris Benito.

The solitary animals are skilled treetop hunters and feed on squirrels and birds.

The European pine marten has lived to 18 years in captivity, but in the wild a lifespan of eight to ten years is more typical.

American pine marten may live in captivity for 15 years. The oldest individual documented in the wild was 14.5 years old.

Generally silent, pine martens have been known to growl, snarl and make a high pitched chattering noise in mating season.


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 pine marten begin to emerge from their dens by the middle of June and are fully independent around six months after their birth.

Source Daily Mail

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