Identification

• Small, pale buff, golden brown or reddish brown weasel-like mammal with yellowish chest, about 24 to 30 inches including the tail, weighing about 2 lbs. Males are a little larger than females. Unlike other weasels, pine martens are excellent climbers and will chase tree-climbing prey.
  
  

Habitat

• Pine marten habitat includes lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, spruce, and mixed hardwood forests. Destruction of forest habitat greatly reduced former populations.
  
  

Distribution

• Distribution of American pine marten is restricted to North America. Small populations inhabit parts of New York state, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine and Wisconsin.
  
  

Food

• Pine martens are omnivorous (eating plants and meat) and prefer mice, red squirrels, chipmunks, birds and eggs, and other small animals. They also eat berries, nuts and carrion.
  
  

Reproduction

• Pine martens nest on the ground, in hollow logs or brushy undergrowth. Although females may be pregnant for nine months, 2 to 4 kits develop only in the two months before birth.