TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on May 17, 2021 4:55:26 GMT -8
I had my first encounter with what I'm fairly certain was a pine marten. I was sitting by a remote stream (Alder Creek north of S. Fork, CO) having lunch when it trundled up the near bank and came right up to my pack to check it, and me, out. Very bold and curious. When I went for my phone to take a pic, of course it wheeled around and dove into the stream. It emerged quickly on the other side and then prowled around over there, for some time before disappearing like a little ghost.
I'd be interested in any reports of sightings and behavior. My little bit of research seems to indicate that sightings here in Colorado are fairly rare, yet they are opportunistic eaters, and can swim! All things I can confirm.
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Post by bobcat on May 17, 2021 21:37:13 GMT -8
Dark brown, size of a housecat, distinctly triangular face, lighter markings on chest. First one I ever saw chased a rabbit right through the center of my campsite while aI was cooking breakfast. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I have seen several in northern Minnesota over the years. I also encountered a fisher once, which is a much less common sighting.
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on May 18, 2021 5:46:09 GMT -8
Dark brown, size of a house cat, distinctly triangular face, lighter markings on chest. Yes, thanks. I've been watching videos of both martens and ermine/weasels. It was definitely larger -- house cat is a good reference -- very little if any white bib, and I particularly noted the triangular head, which I thought was a giveaway at the time. It also moved a bit more sleekly and less erratically than a weasel appears to. Definitely not a fisher, though I've enjoyed learning about them just now! Looks like their range is generally further north than I am. |
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Post by hikinggods on May 18, 2021 20:10:14 GMT -8
My husband and I saw one last weekend in Telluride. It's the first I've ever seen. Another hiker had a dog on leash, and the marten didn't seem particularly afraid of it, though it ended up climbing a tree. It watched us from a safe perch in a nearby tree. Cute little sucker.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on May 19, 2021 6:34:46 GMT -8
I *think* I’ve seen them once or twice, but never a good enough look to be 100% sure. Certainly something in the weasel family. At least once in CO, and once in the Sierra.
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walkswithblackflies
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Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
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Post by walkswithblackflies on May 25, 2021 8:41:39 GMT -8
I've never seen a pine marten. It's on my bucket list. Neat that you had a sighting, especially in an area where they're uncommon.
We have a fisher that prowls our creekbed, along with the occasional mink, and rare otter sightings. Years ago in the Adks, I had a red squirrel that was being a pest as I was trying to eat breakfast (breaking into my bag, my tent, my bearcan). Then I heard a short scream, and saw an ermine with the squirrel in its mouth. Good ermine!!!
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nickhowes
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Post by nickhowes on May 29, 2021 7:46:01 GMT -8
Saw one chasing a chipmunk on the edge of the woods near the Island Lake trailhead - it almost ran over my feet as it was fixated on that chipmunk.
Saw another just below Granite Peak, in the talus near Lowary Lake - it must have been hunting pikas because there's nothing else at that altitude.
Both of the above in the Beartooth Mountains, Montana.
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Post by swimswithtrout on Jun 23, 2021 20:36:39 GMT -8
I've seen a few in Colorado. My best encounter was in the Wind's and was a pair of Martens chasing a squirrel on the ground. Win went to the Martens.
On a few side notes, I once had a badger walk right up to me and try to make off with my trout that I had in a mesh bag next to me in the river. Same happened to me in Boundary Waters where a mink did get my fish, and at one of my local secret get-aways, the weasels are so thick, it's hard to go more than an hour or two without seeing one. I still need to see a Fisher and Wolverine to get them all.
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