Past and Present Distribution of Marten in New York

Abstract

A century ago the marten, Martes americana americana , was rather widely distributed in suitable habitats of New York State. These habitats included the “green timber” of white and red spruce and balsam fir, found principally in the Adirondack and Catskill mountains. Occasionally martens move into the rock maple, hemlock and yellow birch zone, but they appear to favor the deep cold swamps and steep mountain slopes above 2000 feet. DeKay (Zoology of New York: Part 1. Mammalia, 1842) indicated that the marten occurs in the elevated and wooded districts of the northern parts of the state. Coues (Fur-bearing animals: a monograph of North American Mustelidae. Misc. Publ. U.S. Geol. Survey, 1877) recorded four specimens from Essex County but did not remark on their abundance. Merriam (The mammals of the Adirondacks, 1884) regarded the animal as common in the dark evergreen forests of the Adirondacks, stating that hundreds were trapped every winter for their fur. Correspondents and older trappers of the Adirondack counties have told me that the marten was common in the early 1900′s. Mearns (Notes on the mammals of the Catskill Mountains, etc. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 21, No. 1147, 1898) does not list the species from the Catskills, although he was informed that the marten still existed in these mountains. Miller (Preliminary list of …