December 5, 2021
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American Marten 001
One of my favorite boreal forest critters that I enjoy photographing is the American Marten or Pine Marten as most people call them. One of my favorite marten experiences happened while sitting on top of a 50-foot cliff just off the Superior Hiking Trail. I looked down and saw a red squirrel jumping from log to log at the bottom of the cliff. It is moving fast as if something is chasing it. It starts to run over a large 6-foot boulder then doubles back and jumps into a spruce tree from the top of the boulder. It hides behind the tree.
Shortly I see a marten following the squirrel’s scent. It goes from log to log exactly as the red squirrel did. It starts to climb over the same rock but then must have smelled the squirrel. It jumps into the spruce just as the squirrel lets out a chatter and leaps from the tree plummeting 20 feet to the ground below. The squirrel wasn’t hurt and runs off.
The marten decides not to jump but climbs down and continues in pursuit of its prey. Soon a second marten comes along following the same path. With the marten’s excellent smell, I think the squirrel was doomed. Neither of them knew I was watching them from the top of the cliff.
