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The greater part of the time the pine marten spends in trees. It prefers forests with a dense undergrowth and good hiding opportunities. It keeps away from water, but when an ice cover has formed reed banks can offer a nice extra food ration.

 

The size of the slender pine marten is about that of a cat. It has a little larger and longer feet than the other mustelids, but is quite similar to the stone marten. They can be told apart from the shape and colour of the breast patch. The colour of the pine martens bib varies from yellowish to orange. The breast patch of the stone marten forks in two at the forepaws and varies from white to yellowish white; the stone marten is also more often seen in cultured landscapes than in the forest.

 

In the snow the pine marten leaves mostly diffuse, oval-shaped paired tracks because in the winter the soles are hairy and the hind paws go into the tracks of the forepaws. When it has moved some little distance on the ground the tracks disappear at a tree and going from tree to tree is very similar to the squirrel’s movements. For a creature of dusk and night-time it moves quite widely, up to ten kilometres during a 24-hour period. In winter it shelters in various occasional places, and the limits of the territory widen since it is a solitarily living animal.