15< 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



on the tips of their toes. They form the first sub- 

 family, Martid<£. The second sub-family, Melidee, 

 includes the Badgers and others, whose walk is plan- 

 tigrade; and the third is formed by the Otters and 

 their relatives, which we separate from the other 

 Martens under the name of Fissipedia, or web-footed. 



THE MARTEN GROUP. 



The first place in the first sub-family belongs to 

 the Marten and its group (Mustela). They are of 

 medium size, endowed with a slender, elongated 

 body, short legs, a head that is somewhat narrow in 

 front and ends in a pointed snout. The ears have 

 a transverse position, are rather short, nearly three- 

 sided, and somewhat rounded at the tip. The eyes 

 are moderately large and of a vivacious expression, 

 the feet have five toes provided with sharp claws, and 

 the tail is of moderate length. The Martens all have 

 glands near the root of the tail secreting a peculiar 

 fluid, and their fur is long and soft. 



The Pine Marten's The Pine Marten {Mustela. dm lies) is 

 Physical an animal as agile as it is beautiful. 

 Characteristics. j ts body measures about twenty-two 

 inches, its tail about twelve inches in length. The 

 fur is of a dark brown color in the upper parts, pale 

 on the snout, light brown on the forehead and cheeks 

 and yellowish on the sides and under portion ; the 

 legs are a brownish black, the tail dark brown. A 

 narrow, dark brown stripe runs from the ears down- 

 ward. Between the hind legs there is a tawny spot 

 with dark brown edges, which sometimes is continued 

 as a band of dingy yellow and runs as far as the 

 throat. The lower part of the throat and the breast 

 are of a beautiful yellow tinge and constitute the 

 most prominent distinguishing feature of the animal. 

 The fur is dense, soft and lustrous and consists of an 

 outer coat of rather long, stiff hair and an under fur 

 which is short, fine and woolly, which assumes a whit- 

 ish tinge in the fore parts and a yellowish hue on the 

 sides. The upper lip is provided with four rows of 

 whisker hairs, and there are also a few bristles under 

 the corners of the eyes, under the chin and on the 

 throat. In winter the general color is darker than 

 in summer. The female is distinguished by a paler 

 hue on the back and a less distinct spot. The throat 

 and lower part of the neck of young animals are of a 

 lighter tint. 



The Pine The Pine Marten inhabits all the 



Marten's Home wooded parts of the northern half 

 and Habits. of tne Old World. In Europe it is 

 found in Scandinavia, Russia, England, Germany, 

 France, Hungary, Italy and Spain ; in Asia it ex- 

 tends to the Altai, its southern confines being the 

 sources of the Yenisei. Corresponding with such an 

 extensive range, its fur is subject to considerable 

 modifications. The largest specimens are found in 

 Sweden, and their fur is twice as long and thick as 

 that of the German Martens, and grayer in tint. 

 The German furs are more of a yellowish brown or 

 dark brown ; and specimens of the latter color are 

 especially found in Tyrol and bear an astonishing 

 •resemblance to the fur of the American Sable. The 

 Martens of Lombardy are of a pale gray-brown or 

 yellowish-brown hue ; those of the Pyrenees are 

 large and strong, but also of a light tint, while the 

 Macedonian and Thessalian Martens are of moder- 

 ate size and a dark color. 



The Pine Marten inhabits forests and is found 

 most frequently in lonely, dense and gloomy spots. 

 It is a genuine arboreal animal and has no superior 

 as a climber. Hollow trees, and nests deserted by 



wild Pigeons, birds of prey and Squirrels are its 

 favorite places of abode, and in rare instances it 

 looks for an asylum in the cleft of a rock. As a 

 rule it sleeps all day ; with the approach of night, 

 usually before sunset, it sallies forth and attacks all 

 creatures that it believes it can master. No quad- 

 ruped between the Mouse and the Hare or young 

 Fawn is secure from it. It stealthily follows its vic- 

 tim, and when near enough, makes a sudden charge 

 and kills it. The Pine Marten has been repeatedly 

 observed to attack weak young Fawns and it is 

 quite as destructive of birds as of quadrupeds. All 

 species of Chickens living in the temperate zone 

 have in it a formidable foe. Stealthily and softly 

 it creeps up to their roosts, no matter whether they 

 are on trees or on the level ground, and before the 

 watchful Hen has the slightest suspicion of its pres- 

 ence, it springs upon her neck, lacerates it with a 

 few bites, or severs the carotid arteries, and eagerly 

 laps the flowing blood. Besides it plunders birds' 

 nests, visits bee-houses and steals the honey, and 

 eats fruit and berries, pears, cherries and plums. 

 When food is scarce in the forest, it becomes bolder, 

 and extreme hunger drives it near human dwellings. 

 When once it succeeds in entering Hen-roosts or 

 Pigeon-houses it causes greater devastations than 

 any other animal, except those of its own group. 



Three or four young Pine Martens are usually 

 found in each litter, the nest being warmly lined 

 with 'moss, and generally in a hollow tree, but more 

 rarely in a Squirrel's or Magpie's nest or a cleft of 

 rock. The mother watches over her family with 

 untiring devotion, and never leaves the vicinity of 

 the nest for fear of losing her children. In a few 

 weeks the little ones are able to accompany her on 

 her promenades on the trees, playfully and adroitly 

 climbing and leaping on the branches; and she gives 

 them a thorough training in all physical exercises, 

 warns them of danger and hurries their flight to a 

 place of safety. Young Martens are easily brought 

 up in captivity ; at first they should be fed with milk 

 and bread, but later on they may be kept on meat, 

 eggs, honey and fruit for a long time. 



Doings of a " On the 29th of January," says Lenz, 



Captive Pine " I received a young Pine Marten, 

 Marten. which had been taken out of a hollow 



tree that very day. I soon induced it to lap warm 

 milk, and in a few hours it ate bread soaked in milk. 

 In this little animal I could clearly observe the nat- 

 ural development of taste in the species. In the 

 beginning, that is, in June and July, the young Pine 

 Marten is fed certain things by its parents, mostly 

 birds ; later it must, according to the season of the 

 year, accustom itself to Mice, fruit, etc. 



" On the second day I offered it a Frog, but it paid 

 no attention to it ; then I gave it a living Sparrow, 

 which it immediately snapped at and devoured, feath- 

 ers and all. On the fourth day I let it go hungry 

 and then tempted it with a Frog, a Lizard and a 

 Snake. It paid no attention to them ; neither did it 

 care for a young Raven. On the sixth day it left its 

 cage and killed a Falcon in its nest, eating the head, 

 neck and part of the breast. I offered it many kinds 

 of food in the course of time and found that it pre- 

 ferred small birds to everything else. 



"When it had attained three-fourths of its com- 

 plete growth and showed great voracity, I again 

 offered it a Snake, but although very hungry the 

 Marten approached very cautiously and drew back 

 at every movement made by the reptile. Finally 

 becoming persuaded that the Snake was not danger- 



