• Scientific: Martes foina
• Spanish: Garduña
• Catalan: Fagina
• Portuguese: Fuinha

The Stone Marten (also known as Beech marten) is a mammal of the Mustelidae family, it is around 12cms high at the shoulder with a long slim body of between 40 to 55cms with the bushy tail adding another 22 to 30cms. The main colouring is brown with the legs a darker shade and the chest and throat an obvious contrasting white, often dividing onto the top of the forelegs. The ears are short, upright and rounded, while the face and snout are steeply sloped.

These secretive mammals are territorial, defending a range of up to 10km from other males, active at dusk and night time. They are solitary other than in the breeding season, resting in a selection of places including under rocks, in tree hollows or in quiet barns and other buildings.

Beech martens prefer open deciduous forest and rocky outcrops in mountainous habitats, but will live in a variety of habitats including woodland, rocky scrub or urban areas as long as there is sufficient cover. They can also be found in mountainous zones to 4000m in summer.

They are able to climb trees making good use of their claws but are more terrestrial than their close cousins the Pine marten (Martes martes).

Stone martens are omnivores and their diet includes smaller mammals, eggs, birds, small rabbits, earthworms and fruit. The food supply can alter with latitude whereby small rodents, fruit and insects are more abundant to northern examples with fruit, reptiles and insects available to the southern inhabitants. The wild fruit includes rose hips and juniper berries as well as taking cultivated fruit from orchards.

Mating takes place during the summer but the female delays implantation for several months ensuring that the young are born the following spring. Gestation takes 56 days with, on average, 3 to 4 young born in March to July using a nest prepared and lined with grasses and moss. The young are blind and hairless at birth. Weaning occurs after 8 weeks with the mother and young remaining together through the summer while she teaches them to hunt. They reach sexual maturity from a minimum of 18 months. The maximum life expectancy in the wild is 10 years, with the average being much less.

Threats

Those that prey on the stone marten are wild cat (Felis silvestris), wolf (Canis lupus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) and eagle owls (Bubo bubo).

At one point their skins were sought after but the current danger is more through habitat destruction. Also secondary poisoning may occur if they eat rats and mice that have consumed bait.

Martens (Martes) in Spain

There are two species of martens in the genus Martes that are found in Europe: the European pine marten (Martes martes) and the beech marten (Martes foina). In Spain, the beech marten is known as “garduña” and the European pine marten is known as “marta.”

Read about the pine marten and how to tell the difference between the two species here: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/the-european-pine-marten-martes-martes/

Further reading at wikipedia (especially the description of the difference between the stone and pine marten.) Main photo also from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_marten

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