The Natural Moment 



The Quick and the Dead 



"Its highways are mighty limbs of the 

 best big evergreens," wrote naturahst 

 Ernest Thompson Seton. "Of all the Weasel 

 tribe, the Marten most is at home in the 

 trees. He dehghts in climbing from crotch 

 to crotch, leaping from tree to tree, or 

 scampering up and down the long branches 

 with endless power and vivacity." These 

 solitary predators of northern forests bring 

 the same exuberance to the hunt. Two 

 pounds of unbridled ferocity, a marten will 

 ambush and devour red squirrels, marmots, 

 voles, mice, and birds. 



In southeastern Idaho's Targhee National 

 Forest, this American marten left plenty of 

 tracks in the deep snow, giving 

 photographer Michael Quinton a clue to its 

 whereabouts in a lodgepole pine. By 

 climbing an adjacent tree, Quinton was 

 able to focus on the marten (inset). Only 

 then did he see the carnivore's prize, a 

 ruffed grouse that appeared to have been 

 cached in the conifer a day or so earlier 

 (right). Martens are usually extremely wary 

 of humans; this animal was aware of its 

 observer but not alarmed. It proceeded to 

 pluck the feathers from the grouse and then 

 began to feast on the bird's head. 



Despite the bitter temperatures and 

 heavy snows in this mountainous region, 

 neither martens nor ruffed grouse migrate 

 or hibernate. When the snow is deep, 

 grouse will sometimes roost in trees, but 

 often they will burrow — or even fly — 

 directly into the snow and roost there. 

 Martens, which can move easily both in the 

 trees and atop the snow, quickly dispatch 

 any such prey they may 

 detect. On days when 

 hunting fails, a vole or 

 grouse safely stashed in a 

 pine will insure the marten 

 of a meal. — J. R. 



Photographs by 

 Michael S. Quinton 



76 Natural History 2/94 



