Wisconsin has just one animal on its list of state threatened mammals, the American marten (Martes americana).
Among these crafty tree residents has actually been found on Lake Superior’s Madeline Island, documented on movie for the very first time. It was recorded on trail video camera video footage as part of the “Wild Madeline” project, performed by Northland College.
The American marten is shy and challenging to identify in the wild. They like to live alone, conceal in trees, and are nighttime. Martens thrive in dense forest environments with abundant pine trees and shrubs, ideal for developing dens and burrows.
The American marten. Image by Jacob B. Frank/NPS Lake Superior’s islands have an intricate forest environment, which matches the American marten completely. Madeline Island is the biggest of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. Over the years, numerous efforts have been made to re-introduce the marten to this environment, and biologists are confident to discover more evidence of them in this part of Wisconsin.
In Europe, sightings of a distant cousin, the pine marten, have been reported this week. This trail electronic camera footage shows pine martens exploring a forest in Shropshire, England. In Ireland, the creature is known as the feline crainn, or “the tree feline”.
The marten is a small mammal in the mustelid family, which also includes weasels and sea otters. These creatures bear a close resemblance to the pine marten, their European relative, but they are not identical. Martens have soft fur, the shade of chestnut brown, with a fox-like face and pointy ears. They are about the size of a house feline and can move rapidly up and down trees. Although they may look cute, they are vicious predators with sharp claws, and eager hunters of little victim.
Cute and evasive in equal step, the American marten has been spotted in Wisconsin. Learn more about this crafty animal.