114 



MAMMALS OF A.MERICA 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, -^ ; Canines. ^^ ; Pre- 

 molars. ^-^ ; Molars, i-"^ = 38. 



4—4 •!— -' 



Pelage.— Sexes identical ; young soon appearing as 

 adults. Head grayish-brown, darkest on nose which is 

 smoke brown ; throat and spot on breast rich orange ; 

 general body color orange-brown clouded with black 

 or blackish-brown on back and belly; legs, feet and 

 upper part of tail black, underpart of tail rufous, save 

 tip which is black. There is a considerable individual 

 range of variation in color of pelage. Pelage same 

 in winter as in summer. The hairs are soft and 

 glossy and there is an under-fur of very soft short 

 hair. 



Measurements.— Length, 25 inches; tail, 8 inches; 

 hind foot, i^i inches. 



Range. — Boreal North America, west to Rocky 

 Mountains, south to New York. 



Food. — Largely squirrels, but also birds and their 

 eggs, and at times other small mammals. 



Remarks.- Owing to its particularly characteristic 

 markings this animal should be confused with none 

 of the other small fur-bearers. It is closely related to 

 the Weasels and co the Minks. Eleven different forms 



of the .\merican Marten are recognized: among these 

 the following are prominent. 



Rel.med Species 



American Marten. — Martcs americana aiiicricana 

 (Turton). The typical species described above. For- 

 ested North .America from New York to the Rocky 

 Mountains, northward. 



Saskatchewan Pine Marten. — Martcs americana 

 abictiiola iPrelile). Much larger. Saskatchewan, 

 Canada. 



Alaska Marten. — Martcs americana aetuosa (Os- 

 good). Larger, grayer. Alaska., 



Kenai Marten. — Martcs americana kcnaiensis 

 (Elliot). Smaller, paler; lacking orange throat patch. 

 Kenai Peninsula. Alaska. 



Newfoundland Marten. — Martcs atrata (Bangs). 

 Larger ; much darker, color deep chocolate. New- 

 foundland. 



Labrador Marten. — Martcs brunialis (Bangs). 

 Larger and darker. Labrador. 



Pacific Marten. — Martcs caurina caurina (Mer- 

 riaml. Colors averaging darker; larger; throat spot 

 orange red. Pacific Coast from San Francisco to 

 Puget Sound. 



The IMartens in America have been given 

 many names, due at first to the effort to dis- 

 tinguish them from their foreign kin. Although 

 the American animal was known in very early 

 times, long before it received a distinctive name, 

 having been i-eferred alternately to the Euro- 

 pean Pine Marten and Asiatic Sable, or to both 

 of these species, very little definite information 

 upon its range and habits was recorded for 

 many years. Pennant, our principal early au- 

 thoritv on the animals of the North American 

 fur countries, considered it the same as M. 

 martcs, and drew its range accordingly. He 

 states that it inhabits, in great abundance, the 

 northern parts of America, in forests, particu- 

 larly of pine and fir, nesting in the trees, bring- 

 ing forth once a year from four to eight young ; 

 that its food is principally Mice, but also in- 

 cludes such birds as it can catch ; that it is taken 

 in dead-falls, and sometimes eaten by the natives. 

 As an article of commerce in comparatively early 

 times, we notice the sale of some 15,000 skins 

 in one year (1743) by the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany, and the imj)ortation from Canada by the 

 French into Rochelle of over 30,000. " Once in 

 two or three years," he adds, they " come out 

 in great multitudes, as if their retreats were over 

 stocked : this the hunters look on as a forerunner 

 of great snows, and a season favorable to the 

 chase." Such periodicity in numbers thus early 

 noted is confirmed by later observations. 



The Sable is ordinarily captured in wooden 



traps of very simple construction, made on the 

 spot. The trap is a little enclosure of stakes 

 or brush in which the bait is placed upon a 

 trigger, with a short upright stick supporting a 

 log of wood ; the animal is shtit off from the bait 

 in any but the desired direction, and the log falls 

 ujion its victim with the slightest disturbance. A 

 line of such traps, several to the mile, often 

 extends many miles. The bait is any kind of 

 meat, a Mouse, Squirrel, piece of fish, or bird's 

 head. One of the greatest obstacles that the 

 Sable hunter has to contend with in many local- 

 ities is the persistent destruction of his traps by 

 the Wolverene and Pekan, both of which dis- 

 play great cunning and perseverance in follow- 

 ing up his line to eat the bait, and even the Sables 

 themselves which may be captured. The ex- 

 ploits of these animals in this respect may be 

 seen from the accounts elsewhere given. Hud- 

 son Bay trappers tell of a Sable road fifty miles 

 long, containing 150 traps, everyone of which 

 was destroyed throughout the whole line twice — 

 once by a \\'olf and once by a \\'olverene. 

 When thirty miles of this same road were given 

 tip, the remaining forty traps were broken five 

 or six times in succession by the latter animal. 

 The .Sable is principally trapped during the 

 colder months, from October to .A-pril, when the 

 fur is in good condition ; it is nearly valueless 

 during the shedding in summer. Sometimes, 

 however, bait is refused in IMarch, and even 

 earlier, probably with the coming on of the pair- 



