X2

^^^^^
That's what nearly all of mine look like right now. The only time I've had them look like that in the past is when they had been camped out on a beaver carcass bait pile for a while.

I skinned one today that was fatter than that, no idea what it had been eating, but it must have been eating plenty of it.

I think my marten are a bit on the obese side, since that is about average for an adult male marten around here. I know the interior marten I trapped, were always much leaner, on average. Many marten around here will have a handful of fat inside, around the intestines too, along with external fat like Boco showed, and the hides will HAVE to be fleshed, as they are covered in a layer of fat like a fat mink will be. It clings hard to the skin, in a thin layer, all around the neck, under the saddle, and around the groin area too.

T4E, same here, usually. I am 100% 120 Belisle, now, so no calorie burn after capture, but some mink I catch will just be crazy fat. Almost like a layer of gelatine.

Can any experts tell us if all these fat marten means that more embryos will implant in the pregnant female marten?

I took a few pictures of a couple fat ones, while in the fur shed tonight. Notice there is even fat between the shoulder blades, and on the inside edge of the front elbows. In the last picture, it shows the amount of internal/ intestinal fat that has accumulated on these chronic overeaters.







AV, I like those Belisle 120s too, but don't like the green belly issues they cause in our warm weather stretches.....

trapped4ever those are some fat marten, the abdominal cavity fat is just crazy. The mink I have caught didn't even have fat like your marten and my marten are fat less.

What is that you are using for a gambrell? It almost looks like a modified light fixture mounting bracket.

In late winter the females have to not be starving to implant the embryos.
I doubt that a fat marten in late winter will implant more,but there wont be the risk of a reproductive failure if they are even relatively healthy at that time.I imagine it is an all or none scenario.Gulo might have some solid input on that.
Of course with plentiful food supply more marten will survive to late winter.
So in the big picture fat martens likely mean more in the long run.

I recall reading many years ago, that in red fox, the female actually is more likely to breed successfully if she loses some body fat prior to mating. I don't know if that's true or not but.........consider Rosie O'Donnell compared to Scarlett Johansson. . Which is more likely to breed successfully ??

Some things defy the imagination ....that's a good thing !

Then how come Christie Brinkley doesn't have kids, but Rosanne Barr does?

You are funny.

My marten have not had that kind of fat on them. I only noted age group and overall size/density being a bit different.

Some people have low standards and no taste

Rosanne hung out at bars around closing time.

Christie was definitely a FOX.

Even the females are fat this season....

Is that your lure in the squid bottles? Are you saving marten glands in the containers. I admire all your marten and fur trapped4ever.

cat catcher,
The squirt bottles are for putting up fur. One is diluted bleach, for stopping bacterial action on any green belly fur, the other one is just straight water, for misting/ dampening fur. Yes, the bigger containers are for gland collection. I collect most glands, off all the species I trap. I make a lot of my own lures, and also sell/ trade some too. At times, good gland lures are THE ticket, when that territorial/ competitive reaction will kick in, on critters that are disinterested in food lure/ bait, curiousity lures, or call lures. Sometimes proper gland lures get them to take that ever important last step......

AV,
I see you asked about the gambrell. I have a few different types, for different species. When I have a pile of marten to do, I tend to use that one. It is a slotted speed gambrell, the slots are V-shaped, so the back leg joint jams in the bottom of the V, and once the animal is skinned, you just give it a flip, and both legs pop out. Quick, simple, durable, and I can stay in my chair, and not have to stand up for each animal.