THE STORY OF THE MARTEN. 
471 
The largest of all the martens is the so-called fisher marten, an animal 
rejoicing in a number of names—both popular and scientific—being vari¬ 
ously designated as the “pekan,” ‘Tennant’s marten,” “black fox,” and 
“black cat.” The two latter titles are due to the large size, stout build, and 
dark color of the animal, which in point of form may be more aptly com¬ 
pared to a fox than to a weasel. It measures from 24 to 30 inches from 
the tip of the snout to the root of the tail. Its general color is blackish 
brown, becoming grey on the head and neck; while the throat is dis¬ 
tinguished by the absence of the light-colored patch distinctive of all the 
other species. It ranges over the greater part of North America, as far 
northwards as Alaska and the Great Slave Lake, while to the southwards 
it is found in the upper part of Texas and about latitude 35 degrees. Con¬ 
tinual hunting has, however,.exterminated the animal from the more settled 
districts of the United States east of the Mississippi. 
The name of fisher is somewhat of a misnomer, for these animals com¬ 
monly frequent deep swamps and wooded mountain sides, away from the 
immediate vicinage of water, and are not known to catch fish for them¬ 
selves as do the mink and otter. However, they are fond of fish, and never 
neglect to devour those that chance to fall in their way. They prey 
chiefly upon hares, squirrels, mice, grouse, small birds, and frogs, and are 
said to eat snakes. They also catch and feed upon their own congener, 
the marten, and make a practice of devouring all that they discover in 
dead-falls and steel-traps. It also appears that porcupines compose a con¬ 
siderable proportion of their food in some districts; specimens being some¬ 
times killed with numbers of porcupine-quils in their skin and flesh. Cur¬ 
iously enough, these needle-like quils which often exceed 2\ inches in 
length, seem to cause it but little or no inconvenience. Instances are re¬ 
corded where the fisher marten has attacked and routed such a compara¬ 
tively large animal as the raccoon. 
In its chiefly nocturnal and largely arboreal habits the fisher marten re¬ 
sembles most of the other members of the group; its agility in the forests is, 
however, very remarkable, and when much frightened, or in pursuit of prey, 
it has been known to leap from tree to tree. The nest is usually built in the 
hole of a tree at a great height above the ground; the young being gen¬ 
erally from two to four in number and produced at the end of April or be¬ 
ginning of May. 
The fisher marten is trapped for its skins in the northern parts of America 
from October till May, those captured in the early part of the season being 
