European pine marten
Martes martes
Rebecca Hill · Ballinphull
Key facts in one look
- Size
- Body 45–58 cm, tail 16–28 cm
- Diet
- Omnivorous predator
- Status in Georgia
- Resident, stable
- Habitat
- Mixed and coniferous mountain forest
- Family
- Mustelidae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The pine marten is a true forest animal: it spends far more time in trees than other martens, leaps up to 4 m from tree to tree, and turns its feet through 180° when climbing. In the Caucasus it lives in mountain forest, down to the tall beech forests of Adjara and Colchis, and avoids settlements. It looks very much like the stone marten, but its bib is yellowish or orange and runs back between the forelegs as a single tongue. Caucasian pine martens often have a bright orange bib. If you see an orange-chested marten in the forest, it is most likely a pine marten.
Identification
European pine marten: how to identify it
A long, supple predator with a long, bushy tail. The fur is light to dark brown, and the chest carries a sharply outlined yellowish or orange bib. The nose is dark, the ears are rounded, and the feet grow dense fur in winter. It is most easily confused with the stone marten, so look closely at the colour and shape of the bib.
The head and body measure 45–58 cm, the tail 16–28 cm, and the weight is 0.8–1.8 kg. Males are on average 30% heavier than females. Caucasian pine martens are especially large and close in size to the stone marten, so size does not help to tell them apart.
The bib covers the throat and the underside of the neck and runs back between the forelegs as a single tongue towards the belly. Its colour ranges from yellowish to bright orange, and Caucasian martens usually have a light or bright orange one. The stone marten has a pure white bib that splits into two lobes below.
The nose is dark, almost black; the stone marten's is pale. In winter the feet grow dense fur and look broad. Its legs are longer and it runs in bounds, leaving paired tracks in snow. Its claws are semi-retractable, something no other mustelid has.
The shape and colour of the bib vary: it is sometimes rounded, reduced or almost white. So a white bib does not always mean a stone marten. Do not rely on one feature: judge the bib colour and shape, nose colour and feet together.
Colour
The fur ranges from light to dark brown; it is short and coarse in summer and long and silky in winter. The Caucasian pine marten is dark brown with a reddish-olive tinge. The sides are paler and greyer than the back, the legs dark brown, and the base of the tail dark chestnut. The chest carries a sharply outlined light or bright orange, rarely yellow, bib.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
The pine marten depends entirely on forest and favours tall, old woodland with plenty of hollow trees and windfall. In the Caucasus it lives in coniferous and mixed forests of the middle mountain belt; the best places are fir-beech and beech-fir forests. In the mountains it climbs to the tree line but not above 2400 m. It avoids open ground and only rarely enters settlements. Mid-20th-century data place its Caucasian range on the forested southern slopes and foothills of the Greater Caucasus. In the Lesser Caucasus it lived only in the western part: on the northern slopes of the Adjara-Imereti and Trialeti ranges, from Borjomi and Bakuriani to Tetritskaro. It occurred in Adjara up to the state border and in the tall beech forests of Adjara and Colchis. It dens in tree holes 2–20 m above the ground, in squirrel and raptor nests, under roots or in rock crevices.
The pine marten map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Records are still too few to mark any region.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Region with records
The pine marten is omnivorous, but at any time of year it prefers small mammals: voles, mice and squirrels, as well as birds, their eggs and hares. In the warm season it also eats lizards, frogs, snails, insects and carrion; among insects, beetles, bees and wasps are frequent. In autumn it eats fruit and berries. In the Caucasus these include rowan, raspberry, cornelian cherry, sweet cherry and blackberry, and it also goes for honey. It hunts mainly on the ground, but chases squirrels in the treetops and kills with a bite to the nape. It covers 7–17 km in a night. In the mountain forests of the north-western Caucasus, where food in the trees is scarce, it lives almost entirely on the ground and climbs a tree only 2–4 times a night. In late summer and autumn it stores food.
The pine marten is mainly active at night and at dusk, though young animals are seen by day. It spends more time in trees than other martens, yet runs fast on the ground too. In the Caucasus it moves every year from one mountain belt to another, following snow depth and food. It is territorial: it marks its range with scent and droppings and defends it against martens of the same sex. The mating season runs from the second half of June to August and peaks in July. The embryo stays dormant for a long time, so pregnancy lasts 236–275 days and the young are born in March–April, sometimes in early May. In the Caucasus a litter has 2–7 kits, usually 3–4. They weigh about 30 g at birth, open their eyes at 30–36 days and become independent by 16 weeks. It lives up to 11 years in the wild and 18 in captivity.
Globally the pine marten is not threatened: the 2016 assessment lists it as Least Concern (LC). Georgia's 2021 national assessment also lists it as Least Concern (LC); its population is stable, and its range in the country exceeds 20,000 km². People are its biggest threat: logging and forest fragmentation, persecution, illegal poisoning and shooting, and in places hunting for its valuable fur. An epizootic of lung worms once caused a marked decline in the North Caucasus and in Georgia.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, it is a resident species in Georgia. Its range in the country exceeds 20,000 km², and the 2021 assessment rates its population as stable. Mid-20th-century data place it on the forested southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, in Adjara and in the western Lesser Caucasus, around Borjomi and Bakuriani. It does not leave the forest.
Best by the bib. The pine marten's is yellowish or orange and runs back between the forelegs as a single tongue; the stone marten's is pure white and splits into two lobes below. The pine marten has a dark nose and feet covered in fur in winter. The bib varies in both species, so check several features together.
Only in forest. It favours tall, old woodland with plenty of hollow trees and windfall. In the Caucasus it lives in coniferous and mixed forests of the middle mountain belt and climbs to the tree line, up to 2400 m. It avoids open ground and settlements. In winter it moves between mountain belts depending on snow depth.
Yes. The pine marten leaps up to 4 m from one tree to another and can jump down from a treetop. When climbing it turns its feet through 180°, and its semi-retractable claws help it move along branches. Even so, it hunts mostly on the ground and chases squirrels in the trees.
Mainly small mammals. It hunts voles, mice, squirrels, birds and their eggs, and hares, and in the warm season also eats lizards, frogs, insects and carrion. In autumn in the Caucasus it eats rowan, raspberry, cornelian cherry, sweet cherry and blackberry. It also likes honey.
No, it is not venomous and it avoids settlements. It sometimes raids poultry or dens in a building, and is persecuted for it. A marten living near a house is more often a stone marten. Watch a pine marten from a distance and do not try to catch it by hand.
It is not threatened. Globally it was assessed as Least Concern (LC) in 2016, Georgia's 2021 national assessment also lists it as LC, and its population is stable. Still, it depends on old, tall forest, so logging and forest fragmentation are its main threats.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
