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 eight.
• 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 & 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)

Lifespan 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.