Pine Marten Breakdown

I awoke to a Pine Marten peering from an overturned canoe outside my bedroom window this morning.  Then a second one appeared.  Then they loped around the cabin to the deck.  Once on the deck, one of them took up residence in a flower pot, and the other one decided that looked like a fine idea.  This video shows what ensued.  Keep an eye on which one starts in the planter and which one ends up in the planter.

Pine Martens are about the cutest creatures in all of the North Woods. They are typically chocolate-brown, have a golden throat patch, and a 12 to 18 inch body followed by a seven to ten inch tail. They are smaller than the related fisher (30-47 inches long, including tail). As omnivores, they subsist on Red-backed Voles, squirrels, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, birds, insects, seeds, worms, and berries. They reportedly particularly like raspberries. Pine Marten are excellent climbers, freely jump between trees, and can rotate their back hips to run headfirst down a tree trunk.

They are active all year. In winter, you may see their paw prints in the snow. Their tracks are less than two inches wide and show five toe pads around a rounded heel pad.

The Pine Marten stick to high ground and loathe water that mats their unoiled fur. In summer, you may seem them on portages. However, the brown cat-size creature dancing along the shoreline rocks is more likely to be its water-loving relative with a contrasting white throat patch, the Mink.

Canadian Lynx Tracks

We came across these tracks on Pipestone Bay of Basswood Lake recently. My first thought was of a massively oversized rabbit. They're obviously too large to be a Snowshoe Hare, but they have a similar repeating pattern.

I had a hunch on the tracks' true origin, and checked with Tom Rusch at the DNR to get his thoughts on the animal that left them behind. Tom and I agreed that they look like Canadian Lynx tracks. Tom mentioned that, like Snowshoe Hares, the two big prints at the top of the "T-shaped pattern are the hind legs of the lynx, and the smaller prints are from their front paws.

Pine Marten on the Hunt

This frisky Pine Marten is hanging around the cabin, eating birdseed from the feeders and chasing wildlife. I photographed him today.

Recently I watched him chase a Red Squirrel up a spruce tree, and then give up on the chase to await an easier ambush. Then I spotted him bounding through the fresh snow after a Snowshoe Hare. It didn't look like he had a good chance at running the rabbit down either.

But, the local critters know the Pine Marten is on the hunt. The squirrels are being particularly cautious around the bird feeders. They are staying in the trees, hopping from branch to branch rather than moving through the snow where they'd be easier prey.

Pine Marten are typically chocolate-brown, have a golden throat patch, and a 12 to 18 inch body followed by a seven to ten inch tail. They are smaller than the related fisher (30-47 inches long, including tail). As omnivores, they subsist on Red-backed Voles, squirrels, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, birds, insects, seeds, worms, and berries. They reportedly particularly like raspberries. Pine Marten are excellent climbers, freely jump between trees, and can rotate their back hips to run headfirst down a tree trunk.

They are active all year. In winter, you may see their paw prints in the snow. Their tracks are less than two inches wide and show five toe pads around a rounded heel pad.

The Pine Marten stick to high ground and loathe water that mats their unoiled fur. In summer, you may seem them on portages. However, the brown cat-size creature dancing along the shoreline rocks is more likely to be its water-loving relative with a contrasting white throat patch, the Mink.

Bald Eagle Wants a Loon's Catch in the BWCAW

When we're lucky, we see wildlife. When we're really lucky, we see wildlife in action.

The few times I have seen a loon eating fish, I have just caught a quick glimpse of silver as the loon swallows down its small meal after resurfacing. Today, my crew and I came upon a loon with a big fish, more than a few inches around and probably ten inches long. It was pecking at its dead fish, and then going under and resurfacing as it worked to grab some flesh of the fish. We watched it for a few minutes as it worked off bites of the fish.

The loon yodeled in the classic manner and then out of its throat came something like a “yipe!,” it dove under, and before we could see it happening, a bald eagle soared over, swooped down with talons out, and grabbed that fish right off the surface of the water.

The eagle flapped a few strokes straight up to the nearby tree where it had a nest, and two young eaglets appeared screeching at the top of the tree, apparently saying thank you as their parent passed off their lunch. The loon reappeared after a minute or so of hiding underwater, probably a bit disgusted at not getting to enjoy its hard-earned meal.

Guest blogger Wilderness Guide Kate Ford

Snowshoe Hares Know It's Spring

This is one of two snowshoe hares I've seen this week. Both of them have recently changed color from a snow-white winter coat to their summer camouflage brown. They know it's spring and they're blending in with the brown and nibbling at the green.