Stone marten: appearance, behavior and nutrition

Do you know why the stone marten is called that way? Where does this little cute animal live? Than eats? Can a stone marten live at home? We will try to answer these and many other questions in this article.

External Features

The marten is one of the most common predators of the Mammal class. This small animal, having a slender and flexible body, fluffy wool, is a serious enemy for many birds and animals. To date, scientists have identified 8 species of martens. The most famous of them are the stone and forest variety.

Stone marten has an oblong slender body, a fluffy and long tail. Her limbs are short. This muzzle has a triangular shape. Ears large, high set. Many believe that this animal is very much like a ferret. There is, of course, a similarity. The main difference is a forked bright spot on the chest of the marten, passing two strips on the front legs. But it is necessary to know that the Asian species population may not have a spot at all.

The wool of the animal is rather stiff, dyed in a grayish-brown or brownish-pale shade. Eyes dark. At night they glow with a reddish color. Stone marten, the photo of which you can see in this article, leaves on the ground more clear traces than its forest "relative". This small predator moves with jumps, while the hind legs clearly fall on the track of the forelegs. As a result, there remain prints, which the hunters call "dvuhchetka."

From a forest individual, the beluga (stone marten) differs significantly. It has a slightly longer tail, the spot on the neck has a yellowish tint, the nose is darker, the feet are covered with hair. The marten stone is heavier, and its dimensions are smaller. The length of the body of an adult animal is 55 centimeters, the tail is 30 centimeters. Weight is from 1 to 2.5 kilograms. Males are much larger than females.

Stone marten: distribution area

This animal lives in treeless mountains of Altai in the Caucasus, in floodplain forests of Ciscaucasia, and sometimes in cities and parks of southern regions of Russia. This species of martens is widespread in Eurasia, the Iberian Peninsula, Mongolia and the Himalayas.

It also occurs in Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Central and Central Asia. In the forests this animal does not live, preferring open spaces with small bushes and sparse solitary trees, stony terrain. That's why the animal was so named. Surprisingly, this small animal of people is not afraid at all, quite often it can be found in basements and barns, in the attics of apartment buildings.

Are you interested in the question of home maintenance? In captivity, stone marten practically does not live. For this reason, it can rarely be found even in large zoos. However, in Germany, in the Central Zoo of Berlin, the Germans managed to create almost ideal conditions that are as close as possible to the natural habitat.

Subspecies

Biologists subdivided all the stone martens into four subspecies.

1. European belvedushka. Occurs in some areas of the European part of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
2. Crimean beloved. As already clear, this is a resident of the Crimea. It has a slightly different structure from other relatives, a small skull and a lighter color.
3. Caucasian bellydancer. This is the largest subspecies living in Transcaucasia, which has a valuable shiny fur and a beautiful underfoot.
4. The Central Asian woman chose the place of residence of the Altai. Her chest patch is poorly developed. It has a very magnificent fur.

Behavior in the natural environment

Stone marten is active at dusk and at night. In the daytime they sleep in tree hollows or settle in the nests of birds of prey. Most of the life martens spend on the branches of trees, so there they feel very confident - climb the trunks, jump from branch to branch. Their jump can reach 4 meters.

The martens move swiftly along the ground. Each individual owns its own allotment, the boundaries of which it marks a special secret. If the territory is violated by a stranger, a conflict is possible between animals. True, in males and females the areas are often intersected. The area of such allotments varies depending on the season. In summer, the plots are larger than in winter.

What does marten eat?

The martens are predators, so the basis for their diet is small animals - rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds. The villagers say that these animals are quite frequent visitors to chicken coops. When the birds begin to rush in panic, even a well-fed marten can not suppress his hunting instinct - it will transmit all the birds.

Catching his prey, predators break her vertebra, suck the warm blood with the tongue, folded in a tube. Stone marten is able to catch up and grab the bird that has lost its vigilance or to get into the nest and eat eggs. In the summer these animals catch various insects, frogs. Sometimes martens add vegetarian food to their diet, as a rule, they are berries or fruits.

Hunting for a stone marten with martens

For a seasoned hunter, marten is a worthy trophy. It is a cunning, agile and quick predator that is capable of avoiding various obstacles during the chase, maneuvering and hiding in the trees. The official season starts in November. As we have already said, it is a night 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. The most common use of the trap number 1. Each hunter has its own secrets of their installation. Let's share one of them. Traps should be installed on tree branches at a height of one meter to two, then they are not covered with snow. And when the animal gets caught in a trap, it will not have a chance to get out (in a suspended state).

A trap with a bait should be placed near the trampled forest trails. The hunting for marten (traps) is not mass, since the number of these animals is not too great. In addition, it is quite difficult to get such a beast. Nevertheless, for the most adventurous hunters, marten is a coveted trophy.