THE MARTEN.[166]
The Pine Marten is perhaps the most pleasing of the Weasel group, as far as appearance is concerned. Its long, lithe body attains a length of over half a yard; its tail is about a foot in length. The legs are short, though not nearly so short as in the Weasels, and its paws have five digits, armed with sharp claws. The snout is sharp and beset at the sides with long vibrissæ. The skin is very beautiful, dark-brown for the most part, lighter on the cheeks and snout, and on the throat and under side of the neck a light yellow.
The skull is much more elongated than either a Bear’s or a Glutton’s; the tympanic bullæ are slightly swollen, and the jugal arches, beneath which the jaw muscles pass, are comparatively narrow and slender. As in the Wolverene, there are thirty-eight teeth, eighteen in the upper, twenty in the lower jaw, and the molars are thoroughly carnivorous in character, being produced into sharp, trenchant, cutting edges.
The Pine Marten occurs over a considerable portion of Europe and Asia, and, amongst other places, in Great Britain, where, however, it is becoming rare. The finest specimens are said to come from Sweden.
This animal is essentially arboreal in its habits, inhabiting chiefly thick coniferous woods, whence its name of Pine Marten is derived. In the branches the female makes a nest of leaves or moss, and sometimes saves herself this trouble by ejecting Squirrels or Woodpeckers, and occupying the vacant dwellings. For its size it is, like all theMustelidæ, extremely ferocious and strong. It attacks and kills Fawns, notwithstanding their superior size; from these down to mice, nothing comes amiss to it, and nothing is safe from its attacks.
The Beech Marten, or Stone Marten (Mustela foina), differs from the foregoing species in certain characters of the skull and teeth, as well as in the fact that the throat is white instead of yellow. Its habits are, on the whole, similar to those of the Pine Marten, but it is more often found away from woods, on the sides of mountains and rocks, or in the neighbourhood of farms. Its general distribution is the same as that of the Pine Marten, but it is decidedly more common than the latter in Great Britain.