Beech Marten: Profile and Information

The beech marten (Martes foina), also called the house marten, stone marten, or breasted marten, is a species endemic to Central Asia and much of Europe.

However, it has a well-established feral population in North America.

The beech marten is listed on the IUCN Red List as Least Concern because of its presence in several protected areas, large population, and wide distribution.

It differs in size and habitat preferences compared to the pine marten but is also said to be superficially similar.

The beech marten is more of a generalist and an adaptable species, occurring in several forest and open habitats, while the pine marten is a forest specialist.

Scientific classification

Subspecies

Characteristics

The beech marten is said to be superficially similar to the pine marten but has a more elongated and angular head, a slightly longer tail, and shorter and more rounded and widely spaced ears.

The nose of the beech marten is grey or light peach, while that of the pine marten is dark black or greyish-black.

Its feet are not as heavily furred as the marten pine, thus making them appear less large, even in winter, with the paw pads remaining visible.

The method of locomotion of the beech marten varies from that of the pine marten because of its shorter limbs; the beech marten travels by slipping in a polecat-like manner.

The beech marten’s skull is similar to the pine marten’s, except in its shorter facial area, larger carnassials, and smaller molars, and its more convex profile varies.

The penis of the beech marten is larger than that of the pine marten, with young beech marten bacula sometimes outsizing those of old pine martens.

In body length, males measure 430 to 590 mm, while females measure 380 to 470 mm. The tail measures 250 to 320 mm in males, and in females, 230 to 275 mm.

In winter, males weigh 1.7 to 1.8 kg and 2 to 2.1 kg in summer, while females in winter weigh 1.1 to 1.3 kg and 1.4 to 1.5 kg in summer.

With elastic guard hair and less thick underfur, the beech marten’s fur is coarser than the pine marten’s. It has a short, sparse, coarse summer coat, and its tail is sparsely furred.

The pine marten’s color tone is darker than the beech marten’s. The underfur of the marten is whitish rather than greyish, like the pine marten.

The beech marten’s throat patch is always white. The patch is wide and usually has two projections that stretch backward and upwards on the legs to the base of the forelegs.

Between the forelegs, the dark color of the belly juts out as a line into the white color of the chest and the neck occasionally.

By comparison, the white color between the forelegs juts backward in the pine marten as a protrusion into the color of the belly.

Behavior

The beech marten, but to a far lesser degree than the European polecat, is primarily a crepuscular and nocturnal species.

During moonlit nights, it is particularly active. Beech martens are less arboreal in their habits, being a more terrestrial species than pine martens, although they can be a specialized climber in heavily forested areas.

It is also a skilled swimmer and may often be active during the daytime, especially in the summer, when nights are short. It usually hunts on the ground. The beech marten travels across paths made by skis or hares during heavy snowfalls.

One specimen was reported to have had a home range of 130 acres (52.5 ha) with two centers of activity in a region of northeastern Spain where the beech marten still lives in relatively unmodified habitats.

Its maximum activity time was between 6 PM and midnight. The animal was mostly inactive between 9 AM and 6 PM. Beech marten dens are almost entirely in buildings in urban areas, particularly during winter.

Beech martens do not dig burrows or inhabit other animals’ burrows. Instead, it nests in gaps between stones in rock slides and inhabited or uninhabited stone structures in naturally occurring fissures and clefts in rocks.

It has been recorded that the beech marten preys on European polecats on rare occasions. Adult beech marten may be preyed on by red foxes, lynxes, and mountain lions, and juveniles are vulnerable to attack by prey and wildcat birds.

Reproduction

At the same time, estrus and copulation occur for the pine marten and the beech marten. Copulation may last longer than 1 hour.

Mating takes place from June to July on the ground or the roofs of houses in the morning or moonlit nights.

The gestation period may last as long as the pine marten, lasting 236 to 237 days in the wild and 254 to 275 days in fur farms. Parturition occurs from late March to early April, with the average litter consisting of 3 to 7 kits.

The kits are born blind but begin to see at 30 to 36 days. The lactation period lasts for 40 to 45 days.

Diet

A much greater quantity of plant food is used in the diet of the beech marten than that of the pine marten and sable.

Cherries, strawberries, pears, plums, black nightshade, onions, grapes, raspberries, and mountain ash are included in the plant foods consumed by the beech marten. Birds, mice, and chickens are consumed as well.

Sparrow-like birds predominate among bird species preyed upon by the beech marten. In addition to the fledglings, the marten likes to plunder bird nests, including passerines, Galliformes, and owls, preferring to kill the parents.

While poultry is rarely attacked, some specimens may become trained poultry raiders, even if wild prey is abundant.

Males target big live prey more than females, who feed more frequently on small prey and carrion.

Distribution

The beech marten is common in most of Europe and Central Asia. It occurs across Central and Southern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, Spain, and Portugal, reaching as far east as the mountains of the Altai and Tien Shan and northwest China.

This species is absent in the British Isles, the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, Denmark, northern European Russia, and the Northern Baltic Sea.

It occurs in Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and northern Burma, which were recently reported to be inhabited.