98 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



customed to an exceedingly active life in the trees and must have an 

 opportunity provided for exercise or they will not remain long in breed- 

 ing 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 females gives the keeper his clue to the time for the admittance 

 of the male. He should be left in several days. The litter of ranch- 

 bred marten, if removed from the mother when about two months old, 

 will be much tamer. The marten was domesticated by the ancient 

 Romans and used for the same purposes as a ferret. 



Mating takes place in January or February. The period of gesta- 

 tion is a little more than three months. The young are seen outside the 

 nest when about eight weeks of age. They are full grown at six months 

 and breed when a year old. The number of young in a litter ranges 

 from one to five. 



Directions for feeding are the same as for mink, but it is well to 

 remember that one-half of the marten's food is fruit and vegetable 

 matter. Two meals a day reduced at times to one meal are sufficient 

 for either in order to keep them in good breeding condition. 



Marten should be transported in metal-lined boxes, because they 

 will eat their way through a sound inch board. If the Hudson Bay 

 marten can be bred as a domestic animal, there will be no difficulty in 

 finding a market for the skins. At the present time, Asia produces 

 75,000 sable skins annually, and North America 120,000. The ex- 

 perience of rearing the Hudson Bay marten would probably lead to 

 the domestication of the Siberian marten or Russian sable, which is a 

 smaller animal, but whose fur is much more valuable. As the fur would 

 be more generally favoured and fashionable, besides being more durable, 

 there can be no doubt that the total trade possible in marten skins 

 would be as great as in all kinds of fox skins combined. 



Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton says: "Of all the animals in my fur 

 ranch, which include mink, marten, skunk, otter and wild-cats, none 

 has responded more quickly to attempts at taming than has the mar- 

 ten. I have great expectations of developing a most manageable 

 strain." 



FISHER, PEKAN, OR PENNANT MARTEN 

 {Mustela Pennanti) 



Only two ranches were found in which the fisher, or pekan, or 

 pennant marten, was kept. The experiments at one of these appeared 



