Do you know why stone marten is called that way? Where does this little cute little animal live? What does it eat? Can stone marten live at home? We will try to answer these and many other questions in this article.
External features
Marten is one of the most common predators of the Mammals class. This small animal, having a slender and flexible body, fluffy hair, is a serious enemy for many birds and animals. To date, scientists distinguish 8 species of martens. The most famous of them - a stone and forest variety.
The stone marten has an elongated slender body, fluffy and long tail. Her limbs are short. In this animal, the muzzle has a triangular shape. Ears are large, set high. Many believe that this animal is very similar to a ferret. There is no doubt a similarity. The main difference is a bifurcated light spot on the marten’s chest, passing in two strips to the front legs. But you need to know that the Asian population of the species may not have a spot at all.
The hair of the animal is quite hard, painted in a grayish-brown or brownish-fawn color. The eyes are dark. At night they glow in a reddish color. The stone marten, a photo of which you can see in this article, leaves clearer traces on the earth than its forest "cousin." This small predator moves in leaps, while the hind legs clearly fall on the front tracks. As a result, there are prints that hunters call the "two-dot".
From the forest individual, the white-creature (stone marten) differs significantly. She has a slightly longer tail, the spot on her neck has a yellowish tint, her nose is darker, her feet are covered with wool. Stone marten is heavier, and its size is smaller. The body length of an adult animal is 55 centimeters, the tail is 30 cm. Weight - from 1 to 2.5 kg. Males are noticeably larger than females.
Stone Marten: Distribution Area
This animal lives in the treeless mountains of Altai in the Caucasus, in the floodplain forests of the Ciscaucasia, and sometimes in cities and parks of the southern regions of Russia. This species of martens is widespread in Eurasia, on the Iberian Peninsula, in Mongolia and in the Himalayas.
It is also found in Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Central and Central Asia. This animal does not live in the forests, preferring open spaces with a small shrub and rare solitary trees, rocky terrain. That is why the animal was so named. Surprisingly, this small animal is not completely afraid of people, it can often be found in basements and sheds, in the attics of residential buildings.
Interested in home maintenance? In captivity, the stone marten practically does not live. For this reason, it is rarely seen even in large zoos. True, in Germany, in the Central Zoo of Berlin, the Germans managed to create almost ideal conditions, as close as possible to the natural habitat.
Subspecies
Biologists divided all stone martens into four subspecies.
- European Belydushka. It lives in some areas of the European part of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
- Crimean white-handed. As already clear, this is a resident of the Crimea. It has a slightly different tooth structure from other relatives, a small skull and a lighter color.
- Caucasian whitefin. This is the largest subspecies living in the Caucasus, having valuable shiny fur and a beautiful underfur.
- The Central Asian white-haired woman chose Altai as her place of residence. Her chest spot is poorly developed. It has very magnificent fur.
Habitat behavior
Stone marten is active at dusk and at night. In the afternoon, they sleep in the hollows of trees or settle in the nests of feathered predators. Most of the life of the marten is spent on the branches of trees, so there they feel very confident - climb on the trunks, jump from branch to branch. Their jump can reach 4 meters.
Martens swiftly move around the earth. Each individual has its own allotment, the borders of which it marks a special secret. If a stranger violates the territory, then a conflict is possible between animals. True, in males and females the ranges quite often intersect. The area of such allotments varies depending on the time of year. In summer, there are more plots than in winter.
What does the marten eat?
Martens are predators, therefore the basis of their diet is small animals - rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds. Rural residents note that these animals are quite frequent guests of chicken coops. When the birds begin to rush about in panic, even a well-fed marten will not be able to suppress her hunting instinct - she will convey all the birds.
Having caught their prey, predators break her vertebra, suck out warm blood with her tongue folded in a tube. The stone marten can catch and grab a bird that has lost its vigilance or climb into a nest and eat eggs. In the summer, these animals catch various insects, frogs. Sometimes martens add plant foods to their diet, usually berries or fruits.
Stone marten hunting with traps
For the experienced hunter, the marten is a worthy trophy. This is a cunning, agile and fast predator that is able to bypass various obstacles during a pursuit, maneuver and hide in trees. The official season begins in November. As we already said, this is a nocturnal predator (stone marten). Hunting is possible only at night. Only in this case you will not return home empty-handed.
The most effective way to hunt for this animal is to use traps. Most often they use trap No. 1. Each hunter has his own secrets of their installation. Share one of them. Traps should be installed on the branches of trees at a height of one to two meters, then they will not be covered with snow. And when the animal falls into the trap, it will not have a chance to get out (in limbo).
A trap with a bait must be placed near trodden forest trails. Hunting for martens (traps) is not massive, since the number of these animals is not too large. In addition, getting such a beast is quite difficult. Nevertheless, for the most gambling hunters, the marten is a welcome trophy.