During the mating season, a particularly large number of marten damages are reported, because martens leave their territory and go in search of a partner. Here you can find out exactly how the reproduction of martens works and what the closed season is all about.
Beech martens are solitary animals and only seek company during the mating season
When is mating season?
The mating season of the martens is in midsummer: from the end of July to the end of August things get really busy. Marten females that have not had any young this year are ready to mate as early as June. Marten females with young are still rearing in June, because young martens are dependent on their mother for six months!
digression
Marten damage to the car
When looking for a partner, martens like to spend the night in warm engine compartments. But another marten has often slept here. The stranger marten senses this and becomes aggressive, whereupon he angrily bites into cables and hoses.How do martens reproduce?
Martens show perseverance in reproduction: the mating act can last 48 hours, during which the partners mate several times. After being fertilized, the ovum goes dormant for several months, so that the mustelid female is only visibly pregnant at the beginning of the next year. Only a month later, three to four young are born in early March.
sexual maturity
Martens are sexually mature at the age of one year. Sables mark their readiness for mating with scent traces.
closed season
There is a closed season for stone martens in all federal states, which usually lasts from the beginning of March to mid-October. The main reason for the close season is to protect young martens who would starve to death if their mother were caught. But the time of reproduction also falls in the closed season.