Pine Marten

• It is one of the few mustelids with semi-retractile claws, ideal for climbing trees.
• Its actual gestation lasts only a month, but delayed implantation stretches the process to up to eight months.
• It eats small mammals, birds and their eggs, insects and fruit.
• locomociónIt is a tree-dwelling mustelid able to chase squirrels through the canopy, leaping from branch to branch with great agility.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Coniferous, mixed and deciduous woodland across much of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Iran

Birth weight

~30 g at birth, blind and deaf

Size at birth

~30 g at birth

Sexual maturity

2-3 years

Gestation / incubation

~8-9 months (including ~7 months of delayed implantation; only ~28-35 days of development after it)

Litter / clutch size

1 to 5 young per litter (average 3)

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 18 years

Sources consulted: AnAge (genomics.senescence.info) · Britannica · Wikipedia (European pine marten) · A-Z Animals · Trees for Life · Mammal Society · Animalia.bio · Animal Corner · Animal Diversity Web · BioKIDS

Best time: All year round, at dawn and dusk; in winter it is easily detected by its tracks in the snow.