While pine martens are relatively common in coniferous forests in western Canada, they aren’t often seen since they’re primarily arboreal and when they do come down to the ground, they rarely stay in one spot for long. These weasels are out all year-long, but are generally not as active in winter. They hunt pretty much anything they can sink their teeth into including ground squirrels, snowshoe hare, fish and birds.
This little guy was out bounding through the deep snow looking for breakfast. He stopped a few times to watch and listen for any prey, which gave me just enough time to get a few photographs of him before he disappeared back into the forest.
Owen Slater Photography 
Great pic as usual. Something so cool about weasels, did you see photos on Bird’s Calgary dot com ? Oct 26 2011. Neat animals.
Thanks Gord! I hadn’t seen those weasel pictures before. They were really lucky to get to see that. Thanks for telling me!
What a great find! I have been wondering about the secret to getting photographs of these guys – just wonderful creatures.
Mustelids are one of my favourites. I have seen many a photographer follow them until they are up a tree staring down at them to get their shots. I don’t like cornering an animal no matter how small it is so it’s taken a few years to get pictures of these guys!
What a wonderful shot of this elusive little creature. The pose is perfect, with a great view of the face, the body, and the tail. It would have been tough to pose the marten any better than that. Snow is always an issue for me in getting a proper exposure, but it looks like the long Canadian winters have helped you master that skill.
Thanks Mike! Ya, lots of time to practice with snow here! I always overexpose by at least 1, 2 stops to get the nice white look.
I’ll remember that tip for the few times a year we get snow here in Virginia.
Is his coat changing or do they always have that mix of colour?
They always have the orange throat colour!
Hi Owen. Great photo! I’m Editor of Nature Alberta’s quarterly magazine and would love to use the photo (which I first saw on our Facebook page) in an upcoming edition – hopefully in conjunction with an article. Let me know, please.
Hi Denis,
Thanks for interest in this photo. I will contact you soon so we can work out the details.
Cheers,
Owen
He’s absolutely gorgeous and I love the pic.
He certainly is very handsome! Glad you love the photo! 🙂
Wonderful photo of an elusive animal. I love the pose and the fact that he looks as if he is listening so intently. Talk about posing for his photograph, it’s perfect. I didn’t realize they had such a big fluffy tail, I always thought they had a tail like a ferret. You live and you learn all your life.
Very true Kathleen…always learning! Thanks for taking time to comment!