pine marten

Two weasel-like creatures vying for forest turf in the Northeast

Both members of the weasel family, fisher and marten tend to inhabit similar areas within their habitat range while competing with one another over valuable resources and food within that habitat. However, while the larger Fisher has managed to adapt immensely well to agricultural, suburban, and slightly more southern expanses of its home range, the marten is far more fickle with regard to altered habitat impact.

Idaho's air-dropped beavers, muskrat pens and ear-tagged marten

In 1948, game warden and pilot Elmo Heter executed a plan years in the making to reintroduce beavers into the mountainous wilds of Idaho. The project gained international fame in 2015, when a local historian discovered lost footage of the program. As seen in the video, the reintroduction efforts didn’t stop at parachuting beavers.

My Enemy's Enemy: Scotland's Pine Martens Bolster Squirrel Competition

My Enemy's Enemy: Scotland's Pine Martens Bolster Squirrel Competition

Shared enemies within a wild ecosystem may propagate competitive interactions between varying species. Can a predator of a threatened species actually assist with the recovery of that species?