Bob & Diana McElroy / Photos / The View from Point Alexander Archive /
American Marten pine marten  martes americana

(photo by Bob: 2006-03-27 - explore

Marty's Back!   

Our friend the marten has returned after an absence of six or eight weeks. (Actually, I think it's a different one. This one seems slightly larger and is definitely lighter in colour, but that may be a seasonal effect.)

In this shot I caught him hanging from our suet cage -- he's why we need a cage suspended with cable -- with his mouth slightly open. It's not hard to believe he's a carnivore. Here I think he's contemplating whether a succulent squirrel in the bush is worth more than suet in the hand.

I could have gone paddling if I had really wanted to; the Chalk River is open between Hwy 17 and Corry Lake. But there was enough of a breeze that, even at these temperatures, it would have been pretty miserable out there.