Wow t4e, that is a cool shot, pretty crazy to have all those phases at one spot.

Gulo, the last marten I skinned this year was a big female with white hairs like that around the neck and upper back. Thought it was old age. I hate catching those experienced breeders, but the luck of the snap, I guess.

Wow, that's a crazy color combination. Are those from the ABC islands? I've read that marten were introduced to those islands. I wonder if that could have anything to do with the interesting colors.

An adult female Pine marten I caught this winter also had the same spots, but they are not very visible in photos. It's a shame because my home region is forest-steppe, definitely not the best or typical Martes habitat, with low population density.

I've put theses two in before and will do so again to go along with the variety we have. I didn't catch either of these but friends had them. Western Interior Alaska.




Jack

Until seeing this pic I never realized that they had different color phases .THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION OF MARTEN IN YOUR PICTURE The marvels of nature are never ending . AND THAT IS THE REASON WE KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE .Thanks for the education and the photos to truly show us what your experiences have taught you . I have seen a great deal of color variation in Red Fox Often I catch red fox with a large color variation from the same location It almost seems like they must be a different species of fox And the same thing with whitetail deer the shades of brown tan black and white are very different from one to the next . Great post and I really love the 3 color phases you have on one pic .That is why trapping never gets boring It is always something happening that is new And no mater what we will never see all that is out there for us to observe .

Tatiana, great information, thanks. I never thought about what the implications might be of introducing low numbers of a species into optimal habitat. The ABC Islands (Admiralty, Baronof, Chichagof) would surely qualify as optimal marten habitat.

I certainly appreciate all the contributions, especially from Sharon, T4E, and Tatiana. Its intriguing where these threads go, and I always learn more than I contribute. Thanks all! There is quite a bit of talk amongst North American biologists about lumping some of the marten species into a single species (lumping of American Marten, Russian Sable, Pacific Marten). I suspect this lumping will not occur for quite some time (if ever) because we are now in an era of splitting rather than lumping. I, for one, do not agree with the current classification of having two species of marten in North America (American marten and Pacific Marten) as they interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Better, they should perhaps be sub-species rather than full species. My opinion on this is based on skull morphology after measuring several thousand cleaned marten skulls from all over North America.

As an aside (Waggler), Baranof and Chichagof Islands have introduced Martes americana (American Marten), while Admiralty Island has the native Martes caurina (Pacific Marten) according to the most accepted classification. Although there are differences between these ABC populations, it is my impression that they are not separate species, only subspecies.

Jack

Tatiana, I was hoping to enjoy your input too. Fascinating observations about those white stripes. I wanted to show you close up of my latest , again, from Trapped4ever, in SE Alaska. He is gorgeous, with that interesting white stream right down the dorsal . It stops at the shoulder. His necklace bling is beautiful. Reminds me of a mini wolverine.

This is the one I keep on my desk. I haven't been able to hang him up with the others yet.

So many of T4ever's marten are a glossy as can be. Thick and plush fur.

Your marten seem to have their short fuzzy tail signature , for their type.

Jack, always love to see that ivory/yellow marten.

See what you did, Jack ?? This is all your fault

Marten are so lovely, diverse, and inspiring.

Thinking what Tatiana mentioned about SE Alaska, I just have to show a small sample of what T4ever catches, every year. Keeping his area in good population and well cared for. I have never seen so many numbers of amazing marten caught, every year, in so many colours. Since colour influences me easily, I could sit on his shed floor for hours and graze through the piles of fur.

As long as the fleas, mites, and scorpions are gone...

I just have to share, what was the summit of several months of T4ever, being very patient with my childlike exuberance, sending me many photos to choose the hides for my hat. I must have driven him crazy. I drove myself crazy. There were so many wonderful ones , it was quite painful to have to just choose a few.

Here was the final row of them, before he sent them off to be tanned. Because I name stuff, to be able to ID them, I named each marten , so I knew who they were. Even if it meant that T4ever would get the impression I was a bit silly. In his unlimited patience , he wrote down each name and tagged them . There was method to my silliness . Temple, the total artist who built my hat, used those tags to carefully place each different coloured hide where I wanted them, to be the splendid hat of many colours , in beautiful contrast , complimenting tails, front, and side flaps.

First, below, is the man himself.



The final row of my choices.



The brightest one, whom I called OJ, I had put on the very back . So the dark glossy tails would show up nicely. Here is OJ just caught. How can you beat that perfect suitcase ?


Some shots of the finished, flaps tied up, and shown down. The underneath flaps have the classic yellow ocher tones, but the uppers, the deep dark sable browns. The very front , is a hide that has metallic golden hairs mixed all into the deep browns . In the light, they glow like metallic paint . I called him Black Gold. I just had to make use of all that necklace bling, so Temple carefully sewed just those patches into the tassel ends. Perfect. Temple did a brilliant job , a nice liner inside too. I couldn't be more proud of him, and everyone who helped in this fun.




What the colours are in sunlight. By the time I set up my camera for sample shots, in summer, the fur was so warm I couldn't keep it on very long.





Also makes a nice backdrop for presentations.


Just had to show the wonders of using marten fur.

See how you inspire us all, Jack ...

Regarding caurina and americana interbreeding. Is there a possibility that these hybrid offspring might not be as fertile or have other reproduction problems that they do not share with their parents?

Kuiu Island in SE Alaska is rather unique in that the marten there are a hybrid of caurina and americana; I believe it is a natural occurrence, not due to introduction. It is also the only area in the entire State of Alaska where the marten season was closed several years ago due to low marten numbers. Apparently the reproduction rate is very low.

Regarding Admiralty Island marten, I trapped there briefly in 1990, I was impressed by the size of the marten but I was pretty disappointed in the fur quality, the color wasn't terrible, very similar to lower 48 caurina, but the texture was courser than any North American marten I have ever seen. it was similar to European pine marten.

Regarding lumping North American marten and Russian sable together. When comparing morphology and other characteristics that biologists consider when spitting or lumping different species there is one trait that I have never seen mentioned. I have had the pleasure of being able to bury my face into bundles of raw Russian sable as well as raw caurina, and americana skins. All raw sable/marten skins have a very pleasing smell imo. However, caurina and americana have an identical odor, whereas Russian sable have a distinctly different odor; but very pleasing just the same. Ya, I know, I'm might be a little strange.

What a treasure trove of experience and knowledge this thread has become. Thank you all.

Waggler,
Admiralty had native marten, with anecdotal stories of other introductions. Baranof and Prince of Wales introductions took place in the 1920's and 1930's mainly with marten originating from the Behm Canal area near Ketchikan, and Thomas Bay , near Petersburg. Chicagof introductions ran from around 1949-1954, with a total introduction of just over twenty animals, these animals originating from the by then established Baranof Island stocks, some again from Thomas Bay and Behm Canal area, plus some from Polly Creek out on the Alaska Peninsula, with a further "possibility " that some may have originated from the Lake Minchumina region. It is also common knowledge that Sitka area trappers in the 1940's were "self transplanting" potentially fertilized female marten that didn't have trap injuries and were still in good health, across Peril Straights, from Baranof to Chichagof, before the "official" introduction even began. All this is going from memory, so I may be off a smidgen on dates, but when I get home, I can look through my files, and get you much more in depth information about all the introductions, if you want. You can just PM me, and I'll get them to you whenever I make it home, and have a chance.

Very true Much of what has been discussed on this thread is somewhat over my head But it proves yet again that all of the Tman members have skill talent and knowledge. about a great many things And many are willing to share the knowledge with those that are interested to learn And I am glad to be allowed to learn along with others that are part of the T man family

the picture is very close to one Canary that I caught last year and donated to our provincial museum. When I worked grading there usually was 10-15 coming in with the 100k that were graded. Hard to do much with them are matches were hard to use as fur garments.

As request by someone that gets the hevey geeevees there will be no tick or flea pictures in this thread.
Thank you for putting a global perspective Tatiana

I dug out my old " The Mammals of British Columbia" which was published in 1955. Back then much of the sub-species was based on museum specimens and skulls of M. caurina ( Merriam)
since then a whole lot has changed.
Manitoba is in a inter-phase of two types. They came into SE Manitoba around 1980 from the east of Ontario and have spread across the lower half now. some were transplanted into the Turtle Mountains/ Peace Gardens by Sask boarder and the RTL guys can catch 10 for the past 25 years interesting they did not de-flea the transplants from 400 miles north and they have a post-geological relic flea on them