Several visitors
have reported seeing Martensin the Agios Georgios
area. The writer had a good, but quite short, side-on sighting of one about 10
metres away sitting quietly on a bank adjoining some rather dense 'maquis' very
early one morning. Before I could organise my camera it turned to look at me,
then with a couple of bounds disappeared into the dense undergrowth. At about
0.5 metres long it is considerably larger than its cousins the stoat and
polecat. It is mostly nocturnal so most often seen at dusk or dawn.
The more common is
the Beech Marten. Some people claim to have seen the much less common Pine
Marten in the area. The 2 closely related species are difficult to distinguish
unless a really good view from the front is obtained, not easy at night. The
chest of the Pine Marten is reputedly more creamy than the whiter one of the
Beech Marten, but that can also verge on the creamy.
The Beech Marten
often prowls around houses and even inhabitants roof spaces and outbuildings
whereas the Pine Marten
As one specialist
puts it : "if you see it round houses or buildings it is probably a Beech
Marten, if you see it in a forest it is probablyly a Pine Marten. Some people
claim to have seen the much less common Pine Marten in the area. The 2 closely
related species are difficult to distinguish unless a really good view from the
front is obtained, not easy at night. The chest of the Pine Marten is reputedly
more creamy than the whiter one of the Beech Marten, but that can also verge on
the creamy.
