the essentials in brief
- Martens eat small animals, insects, fruit, nuts, eggs, carrion and kitchen waste.
- Martens prefer raw and boiled eggs, birds and chicks. In summer martens especially like to eat sweet berries and juicy fruits.
- Martens like to eat cables, hoses and insulation wool on the car and cause great damage with this inexplicable naughtiness.
What do martens eat? - Menu.
Martens are omnivores with a particular fondness for carnal food. Martens basically eat anything they can kill or get hold of. This flexible diet results in a wide range of foods with animal and vegetarian dishes. The following table gives an informative insight into what is on the menu of martens:
also read
- Do martens eat rats?
- Exposing captured martens far away
- Do martens hibernate in winter?
| Animal food | Vegetarian food | Other food |
|---|---|---|
| Birds | fruit | Kitchen waste |
| Rodents | Berry | Carrion |
| Vertebrates | nuts | Eggs |
| insects | Chestnuts | cat food |
| poultry | Sunflower seeds | rumen |
Habitat and season have a decisive influence on the actual food preferences of martens. In southern Germany, the table for marten is covered with different dishes than in the north of the country. In spring, the robbers taste different bites than in summer or winter. The following sections take a closer look at Mr. and Mrs. Marder's extensive menu.
Animal food predominates
Martens mainly eat animal food
Martens are predators and are born with an irresistible hunting instinct. The nocturnal predators are lithe climbers, nimble ground runners, quick to react Hunter and very brave. Because of these characteristics, many animals belong to the prey scheme, as the following overview shows:
- Birds: Garden birds, water birds and migratory birds, from A for blackbird to Z for chiffchaff, their chicks and eggs
- Rodents: Mice, rats, rabbits, brown hares, squirrel, Guinea pigs, hamsters
- Vertebrates and amphibians: Frogs, amphibians, toads, snakes, salamanders, worms
- insects: like moths and fat moths, beetles and their larvae, preferably nocturnal species
- poultry: Chickens, ducks, Ducks, their chicks and eggs
A real fighter's heart beats in every marten. If necessary, it can also take on larger prey, such as a pheasant or turkey. Of course, martens prefer to target smaller animals whose hunt does not require a lot of strength and energy. Martens are not wasters. If prey cannot be eaten on the spot, it ends up in a secret pantry for bad times.
If the marten invades a poultry house, its hunting instinct gains the upper hand. Instead of being satisfied with a single chicken for the acute need for food, the predator continues to rage. Experts suspect that the reason for the massacre was that panicked fluttering of chickens and ducks fueled the hunting instinct again and again. In the worst case, the bloodlust does not end until all animals have been killed. Bad luck birds and perpetrators are both victims of their instincts. The best protection against the carnage is a marten-safe stable building.
Vegetarian food provides variety
Martens even eat peanuts
Rising temperatures arouse martens' appetite for juicy fruit. Fruits that are ripe for the harvest, such as apricots, peaches, cherries and apples, eat hungry martens with pleasure. You won't run past lush berry bushes without eating sweet raspberries, delicious blackberries or crunchy gooseberries. When the fruit season is coming to an end, martens don't have to starve, because the time for nuts begins. Hazelnuts, walnuts, Beechnuts or chestnuts cannot withstand the strong teeth and provide important nutrients for the coming winter. Incidentally, martens like to nibble sunflower seeds for their lives.
Other food - martens eat what they can
Martens are very adaptable. The clever fur bearers adjust to changes in the food supply even before the stomach growls the next time. When meat and fruit are hard to find, alternative treats come on the table. The following overview summarizes the other food that martens eat:
- Kitchen waste: the Organic waste bin exerts a magical attraction on martens with leftovers of all kinds
- Carrion: dead animals eat martens completely and thus make themselves useful as furry health police
- Eggs: preferably raw, but also cooked and peeled as a tasty snack between meals
- cat food: cheeky martens feed every cat bowl empty, whether the cat is standing next to it or not
- rumen: Marten eat rumen and other dog food only in the absence of the authorized boarder
The cat food category includes other feeds that humans offer livestock and wild animals. Hungry drift away Marten in the garden around, hedgehogs are left behind at the feeding place. Because beech martens are excellent climbers, every bird feeder is inspected for food and mercilessly plundered. Tit dumplings to reach is child's play for martens. However, this mouth robbery is punished with violent stomach cramps and diarrhea, due to the high fat content.
Digression
What do martens eat on the car?
Curious about the ultimate tip against marten damage to the car? Then please take a look at the following video:
Youtube
What do martens like to eat best?
Contrary to popular belief, car cables are not martens' favorite food. The actual favorite dish is difficult to cope with for nature lovers. Martens prefer to eat birds, chicks and eggs. In summer, ripe fruits are the most popular culinary delight, and a careless mouse or a reckless bird can get away with enjoying them.
Tips
Traces of excrement give a clear indication of who is sneaking through the house or garden at night and in fog. Marten droppings can be clearly seen because the solution is 8 to 10 centimeters more than twice as large as Hedgehog droppings. Hedgehog droppings again is twice as large as Rat droppings. To compare lengths, simply hold a match next to the suspicious excrement.
What do young martens eat?
In human care, martens can also be fed cat food or all kinds of meat
Baby martens are up to the 8th Week of life dependent on breast milk or rearing milk. Only after a two to four week changeover phase can the small stomach take in and process solid food. Young martens are in the wild and in rearing stations at the latest from the age of 12. Weaned completely by week of life and have turned into little sweet tooth. This is what young martens like to eat:
- fruit: preferably sweet, local berries, preferably ripe mango, delicious banana, juicy kiwi
- Small animals: Mice, day-old chicks, insects, frogs, larvae, earthworms
In rearing stations, young animals are served other delicacies that mother Marder cannot bring. These include chicken hearts and gizzards, uncooked and unseasoned, and nutritious junior cat food.
frequently asked Questions
What do martens like best?
Martens are passionate carnivores with a particular predilection for birds, poultry, chicks and eggs. Admittedly, the predators do not want to commit themselves to being omnivores. Especially in summer, the menu is expanded to include sweet vitamin bombs, such as raspberries, cranberries, gooseberries, blackberries, as well as peaches, apricots, plums and cherries. In autumn martens like to nibble on nuts such as hazelnuts, walnuts or chestnuts.
What do martens eat in winter?
As masters of adaptation, martens adjust to the cold season in good time. For this purpose, the clever robbers create secret hiding spots, filled to the brim with all kinds of delicacies, such as fruit, nuts, eggs, insects, beetles or the remains of prey. Because there are not enough stores for a whole winter, martens continue to hunt birds, mice and rabbits. Fatally, keep numerous prey animals Hibernation. If they fail to hunt, hungry martens often turn to the garbage cans in winter in the hope of discovering something edible in them.
Why do martens eat the cables in the car?
Experts have been trying for years to provide a scientifically based answer and reliable evidence of this bad habit. The focus is on the following thesis: Marten mark every car that is parked in their area with scented tags. If the marked vehicle drives to another area, the strange smell will make the local marten white-hot. In a rage, he attacked the car, where cables, hoses and insulation materials were beaten with sharp teeth. It is believed that serious damage to the car can always be traced back to the second marten.
We found an emaciated young marten in our garden. What food can we use to feed the 4-month-old young animal?
Young martens like to eat food animals, supplemented by fresh fruit. Day-old chicks and mice can be purchased as frozen food by mail order. Feeding cat food, especially Animonda kittens, is better to practice for laymen. To do this, serve chopped berries or tree fruits from local fruits once a week. With this nutrition plan, the young animal quickly builds up fat pads. Please note that raw beef and pork are not suitable for martens.
Tips
Are in the natural garden marten welcome because they like to eat numerous pests. Mice and rats have bad cards where a marten roams at night. Furthermore, the predators act as useful pest-eaters for voracious larvae, such as the dreaded cockchafer larvae and others Grubs.
