78 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



provided. The boxes may be outside the pens, bolted to the fence; a 

 hole in the fence and box admits the animals, the box to be 3 or 4 inches 

 above the ground. The boxes should be as dark as possible, with a hole 

 4 inches in diameter for the entrance of the minks. 



MARTEN OR AMERICAN SABLE 

 (Mustela Americana) 



No marten farms vi^ere found in the course of this investigation, 

 although ranchmen were attempting to secure specimens. In the au- 

 tumn of 1912, one Nova Scotia farm obtained six pairs from Labrador 

 and probably a few more farms in Ontario are stocked. 



The experience of only one person in breeding marten was obtain- 

 able, that of A. H. Cocks, of Henley-on-Thames, England.* Mr. Cocks, 

 who has raised five litters of marten in captivity, states that the prin- 

 cipal difficulty is to ascertain when the female is in season. If a pair 

 are put together when the female is not in season, it is very apt to end 

 in the death of the female from a sudden snap through her brain by 

 the male. 



The marten is one of the most blood-thirsty of animals, 

 the Marten being inferior only to the weasel, and, possibly the fisher, 



in this respect. It mates promiscuously like the rest of 

 the weasel family, and, because of its savage nature, two cannot be put 

 into one pen. The pens should be similar to the mink pens, of No. 

 17 or No. 18 one-inch mesh wire, but higher and wired all over. The 

 ground may be covered with wire to prevent burrowing or the fence may 

 be sunk into the ground a foot deep. Trees and brush may be placed 

 in the pen, or the pen placed in the woods. They are accustomed to an 

 exceedingly active life in the trees and must have an opportunity pro- 

 vided for exercise or they will not remain long in breeding condition. 

 The nest should be about the size of that advised for the mink, or, 

 possibly, slightly larger. 



The difficulty with the marten, as with the mink, comes at 

 Mating mating time; only it is much harder to control the difficulties 



in the marten's case, as mating takes place at night, whereas 

 minks mate at any time. The placing of crossed straws about the pens 

 by the female gives the keeper his clue to the time for the admittance 

 of the male. He should be left in several days. For safety's sake, in 



*An account of his experiences has been published in The ZooloplH 

 for 1883, p. 203; and in the Procrrdinps nf the Zoohujival Society of London for 

 1900, p. 836. Further notes on the young of the species are to be found 

 in The Zoologist, 1881, 1897, etc. 



