Before I start let me say up front that I am not saying I want to go get one as a pet, or that I condone the whole wild-animal-as-a-pet thing. What I’m talking about is… say you found an injured baby one and raised it and nursed it back to health. Would it domesticate? It’s a member of the weasel family, and ferrets have been very successfully domesticated. However I’ve heard that mink, also in the weasel family, don’t do well as pets because they are aggressive, (I don’t know if it is true or not.) I’ve read that lions tame well, and tigers do not. Etc. So I was just wondering if anyone knows about the temperament of the pine marten and how it does in captivity.
Am I the only one who thinks that they’re obscenely cute?
Wild animals don’t “domesticate” in the sense that they would ever become a domesticated animal. That takes generations. You wouldn’t be able to really “tame” it either, but it could become used to having people around. Bu the animal would still be wild and liable to turn on you at any moment. Not a good idea, it’s a carnivore.
I’m not really asking about “wild animals/carnivores in general” I’m asking if anyone knows the specifics about a pine marten. As I mentioned, certain animals are known to do better in domestic situations than others, when raised from infancy. Just wondering at the temperament of the pine marten.
They’re in the same family as ferrets and minks, both of which have been domesticated (the former as pets and for fur farming, and the latter in fur farming only). I’ve spoken with someone who has pet minks, and she says that they’re not a great pet for everyone. While they are affectionate, they bite, and cannot be trained not to. I imagine the situation might be similar with a pine marten: it might bond with you if you raise it from a young age, but there will probably be certain undesirable behaviours (such as biting) that you won’t be able to suppress without several generations of selective breeding.
The deal breaker for most people would be the anal scent glands. Skunks can also make affectionate semi-wild pets if raised from first weeks. But the issue is when startled or angry (no treat?) they let off quite a persistent stink. Martens would not stink quite as bad but probably more than bad enough.
Older than a couple of weeks? TBH it would be like adopting a feral kitten. Except the bite power would be worse but the claws least hazardous. As with cats the results would vary a lot with age of the animal, its personal temperament, and your exact treatment.
So if you are an avid cat person who loves or ignores painful wounds…a marten might well be an acceptable pet. Because honestly most cats are not really domestic animals despite thousands of years of breeding. Honestly neither are people or the best of dogs, as individuals can turn on you and literally rip your throat out for no discernable reason. So expectations are never guarantees of behavior.
Again I would suggest your most realistic expectations for a marten is cat-like behavior at best – with feral cat adoptee behavior if they are a bit older juvenile. More a question of how frequently or savage the bites than if it occurs. As small wild mammals trend toward adult the best you can expect is well fed park squirrel or pigeon behavior. That is they might perch on you to get food or even allow a touch but are unlikely to stay long past feeding and almost certain run off or bite at any sign of restraint or other overly familiar contact.
