New Foundland Pine Martens are a species at risk..........they take an additional year to reach breeding maturity than do the American Marten..........Late Summer is when 3 year and older females get impregnated with the following Spring seeing the birth of 2 to 3 kits.............Kits have a short and condensed learning period with their mother and then disperse at the end of their first Summer ...............If they get through their first year of life, they have a life expectancy in the wild of up to 10 years

Newfoundland Pine Marten Update: Family Time

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Newfoundland Pine Marten in a Tree.

Courting a Mate

When Newfoundland pine martens are three years of age and older, they are ready to become parents. That's a full year older than their mainland cousins, the American marten. Females show they are ready to become a mom by leaving scent markers around their habitat. In late summer, usually at the end of July through August, males will seek out one or two females that live in their home rage.

Pine Marten Kit.

Finding a Den

Pregnant pine martens will have their babies the following spring. In late April, the female pine marten will seek out a den, making sure to pick a secret spot that will help keep her young safe. These dens are usually located in a rock pile, inside a tree, or hollow stump. She will then give birth to two or three babies that are called kits.

Raising the Young

Pine marten kits are born blind, deaf and without hair. These kits are part of a single parent home where only the mom raises them. Over several months the mom will feed her kits milk, once they are ready for solid food, she will catch small prey, like voles and hares, for her young to eat. After 6-8 weeks the kits will start to open their eyes and venture outside of the den to explore their surroundings, but they don't stray far from home. Most kits stay with their mother through the end of their first summer, heading off on their own in the fall. For these kits it is the start of a long life; in the wild their lifespan averages between 8-10 years.

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