The pine marten is omnivorous, eating small mammals, birds, insects, carrion, frogs, reptiles, snails, crabs, echinoderms, barnacles, fruits, and berries, but relies on small mammals for most of the year.

Pine martens prefer nesting underground during the cold winter, but hollow trees, squirrel nests, abandoned bird nests, and rock crevices are also used as hideaways.

Pine martens forage extensively in treetops and on the forest floor throughout the summer and autumn in order to store their food and compensate for low winter resources.

Pine martens experience a “false heat” in late winter in which increased aggressive social behavior forces the dispersal of remaining young before the new litter is born.

On the island of Minorca, pine martens are habitat generalists and live in shrubland, rather than forests, possibly because of the absence of predators.

Pine martens are born blind, deaf, and toothless with thick, short fur and don’t begin emerging from the den until 7-8 weeks later.

The pine marten’s home range may have high individual and geographical size variation as estimates vary widely between studies.

The average lifespan of a pine marten in the wild is 10 years, but in captivity, they can live up to 17 years, averaging 15.

The pine marten inhabits forest habitats, including deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forest and prefers old-growth forest over young forest.

Pine martens are solitary except when young are in the nest, but can tolerate independent subadults that did not disperse in their first fall.