American Pine Marten

Most people, if asked to name wildlife species in the West, would probably include bison, moose, elk, bighorn sheep, etc., all large charismatic megafauna. However, there are many other species, less well known, that are important members of the West’s wildlife tapestry. One such animal is the American pine marten.

Pine martens are domestic cat-sized members of the weasel family. They are larger than weasels and their tail is bushier. Their fur is brown with a bib of yellowish fur on the front of the throat and chest. They are usually found in forests at the 7,000 to 10,000-foot level. They primarily hunt rodents of all types, but they especially hunt squirrels. Their luxurious fur made them targets for the fur trapping industry. Their furs have been marketed as sable. The number of pine martens in the West is unknown but they are widespread in the mountain areas.

A secretive forest dweller, pine martens are rarely seen. However, because I had two encounters with pine martens, I decided to do a blog post about them just in case others might have the good fortune to observe them in the wild. My first encounter was in Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. While hiking one of the trails at Grant Grove, I heard a ruckus in the trees. I saw a brown weasel-like animal chasing a Douglass squirrel around and around and up and down the trunk of a fir tree. I realized that the aggressor was a pine marten, the first I had ever seen. I couldn’t stay to watch the conclusion of the hunt but because they are tenacious and agile hunters there is no doubt how it turned out.

My second and more unusual encounter happened when I hiked to a mountain lake in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming to fish. I was standing on a large boulder at the lake’s edge, casting lures into the water. Out of the corner of my eye, I detected a movement. Startled, I turned to see what it was, hoping it was not a bear. There was a small brown animal with a long bushy tail walking through a boulder field and heading directly toward me. It was too large and the tail was too bushy for a weasel. It was a pine marten. At first, I thought that he had not seen me so I moved to see if he would stop, but he didn’t and continued to move toward me. This was strange behavior since they are normally secretive and are rarely seen. He walked up to the boulder I was standing on, placed his front paws on the boulder, raised up, and sniffed the air, all the while looking directly at me. He was less than three feet from me. I was shocked and a little apprehensive, wondering if he was sick. After perhaps a minute, he turned and slowly moved away and into the forest at the edge of the lake. I just stood there dumbfounded by what had just happened. Although secretive, they are also curious, and I can only surmise that it was his curiosity that caused him to be so bold. Maybe he had never seen a person before. Perhaps he was young and not yet aware of the dangers out there. Whatever the reason, I realize that I experienced a very rare event and one that I will always remember. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me and the encounter pre-dated cell phones.

Very few people have the opportunity to see a pine marten. I hope the readers of this post will be lucky enough to see one.