Pine Marten Facts
The European Pine Marten is a fascinating creature found all over Europe. However, they’re also found in parts of Asia and the Middle East. Pine Marten’s are the national animal of Croatia, featuring on their currency. Scotland is the usual habitat of the Pine Marten in the United Kingdom. The Pine Martens used to be confined to the Scottish Highlands for years, but they have now traveled as far as England. In 2012, researchers found that the Pine Marten had recolonized Northumberland, and people have reported multiple sightings in Cumbria. The Pine Marten is enjoying English territory, multiplying in various locations as recently as 2019.
Pine Marten live for a surprisingly long time, with the longest lifespan recorded at 18 years. This Pine Marten was in captivity, but it’s an incredible lifespan for such a small animal. The longest-living wild Pine Marten was 11 years old, but the average lifespan is around three years. Humans are the biggest threat to Pine Martens. However, they have multiple predators such as Eurasian lynxes, wolverines, red foxes, golden eagles, and white-tailed eagles. In the United Kingdom, Pine Martens are a protected species, but they have been prone to hunting attacks from humans. They are also a victim of deforestation. To learn more Pine Marten facts, continue reading this article to find out everything there is to know about this wonderful animal. We’ve covered the Pine Marten’s size, diet, and habitat. However, we are also updating our content, so come back regularly to learn more Pine Marten facts.
Pine Marten Size
People don’t know the Pine Marten for its size. A Pine Marten will grow no bigger than 53 cm long, and they don’t weigh much. At most, a male Pine Marten weighs 3.7 lbs, with female Pine Martens usually weighing less. However, Pine Marten’s can seem much bigger because of their tail. A Pine Marten’s tail can be up to 25 cm long and is always the same color as the rest of the Pine Marten’s fur. Once again, males are usually larger than females, but their tail size will always be relative.
Most Pine Marten’s look similar, often dark brown with a cream underbelly. A Pine Marten’s fur changes during each season. In the summer, a Pine Marten’s fur becomes much shorter to lower its body temperature. The opposite happens in the winter, with the Pine Marten growing much of its fur back.
Vince Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pine Marten Diet
Weighing at just 3.7 lbs, the Pine Marten diet isn’t full of enormous meals. Pine Marten are carnivores, but they will eat anything they can catch. Pine Martens hunt small mammals, birds, and insects. However, they also enjoy plenty of fruit, with a mixture of berries and general forest wildlife. Although Pine Martens might look cute, they are not pets. Meaning they don’t have a domestic diet, but they would probably eat very similar foods that they enjoy in the wild.
Pine Martens are smart hunters, but they are also highly aggressive, hence why they would make an awful pet. Pine Martens have razor-sharp teeth, and can bite incredibly hard. A Pine Marten once invaded a football match in Switzerland, biting a player during the game. If you come across a Pine Marten habitat, it’s important to maintain your distance and not provoke this small creature.
Pine Marten Habitat
For most of their time in Europe, the Pine Martens habitat was only Scotland. However, they have since migrated to other parts of the United Kingdom. In 2024, the Kent Wildlife Trust and Sussex Wildlife Trust will collaborate to evaluate the potential reintroduction of the Pine Marten in the South-East of England. Wales has a small population of Pine Martens, and the species is incredibly rare in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Despite their rarity in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Pine Marten is thankfully recovering. The Pine Marten habitat suits The Burren, and you can also spot them in the beautiful Killarney National Park. In Northern Ireland, the Queen’s University Belfast discovered Pine Martens in every county of Northern Ireland. The recent discovery of a Pine Marten in Wales confirms its presence in the country after nearly five decades. In 2015, researchers discovered a male Pine Marten as road kill in Newtown, Powys, confirming the species’ resurgence since 1971.
Quick Fire Pine Marten Facts:
Pine Marten are some of the cutest creatures in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and we hope you’ve enjoyed learning some fantastic Pine Marten facts throughout this article. We’ve summarized everything you need to know about Pine Martens in a helpful bullet-point list to ensure you don’t forget everything you’ve learnt. We’ve already covered the Pine Marten size, diet and habitat, but now you can also learn about the Pine Marten lifespan and noise! Whether you’re spotting Pine Marten in Ireland or the United Kingdom, these amazing animals are some of the most exciting creatures to monitor, so it’s important to understand their behaviour and needs.
- Pine Marten Size: The Pine Marten grows up to 53 cm long, and usually weighs under 3.7 lbs.
- Pine Marten Lifespan: When living in the Ireland, Scotland, or England, the Pine Marten can live up to 11 years old, but the average Pine Marten lifespan is three to four years in the wild.
- Pine Marten Habitat: Pine Marten aren’t limited to the United Kingdom and Ireland, with these fantastic creatures making habitats all over Europe and even as far as Syria!
- Pine Marten Diet: A Pine Marten diet consists of fruit, small mammals, birds, and insects. The Pine Marten isn’t a picky eater, and it’ll eat just about anything it can get its paws on.
- Pine Marten Noise: The Pine Marten noise can be hard to spot, as it sounds similar to a bird screech. Its extremely high-pitched, and will last around 2-5 seconds.
Featured Image by Caroline Legg, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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