The food is a reflection of their way of life and characterizes martens as courageous survivors. Join us as we take a look at the complex menu with some surprising favorite dishes. Find out here what martens like to eat.
What is the preferred food of martens?
Martens are omnivores that primarily prefer animal food such as birds, rodents, vertebrates and insects. But they also eat vegetarian food such as fruits, berries and nuts. They also include kitchen waste, carrion and eggs in their diet. Her favorite foods are birds, chicks and eggs.
- Martens eat small animals, insects, fruit, nuts, eggs, carrion and kitchen waste.
- Martens prefer to eat raw and cooked eggs, birds and chicks. In summer, martens particularly like to eat sweet berries and juicy fruits.
- Martens like to eat cables, hoses and insulation wool on cars and cause a lot of damage with this inexplicable bad habit.
What do martens eat? – Meal plan
Martens are omnivores with a particular preference for meaty food. Basically, martens eat anything they can kill or get hold of. This flexible diet results in a broad spectrum of food with animal and vegetarian dishes. The following table gives an insightful insight into what martens have on their menu:
| Animal food | Vegetarian food | Other food |
|---|---|---|
| Birds | Fruits | Kitchen waste |
| Rodents | Berries | Carrion |
| Vertebrates | Nuts | Eggs |
| Insects | Chestnuts | Cat food |
| Poultry | Sunflower seeds | Tripe |
Habitat and season have a decisive influence on the actual food preferences of martens. In southern Germany, the table for martens is set with different dishes than in the north of the country. In spring the predators taste different food than in summer or winter. The following sections take a close look at Mr. and Mrs. Marder's extensive menu.
Animal food predominates
Martens primarily eat animal food
Martens are predators and are born with an irresistible hunting instinct. The nocturnal predators are agile climbers, nimble ground runners, fast-reacting hunters and very courageous. Because of these characteristics, many animals are part of the prey scheme, as the following overview demonstrates:
- Birds: garden birds, waterfowl and migratory birds, from A, like blackbirds to Z, like chiffchaffs, their chicks and eggs
- Rodents: mice, rats, rabbits, hares, squirrels, 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, runner ducks, their chicks and eggs
In every marten there beats a real fighting heart. If necessary, it will also take on larger prey, such as a pheasant or turkey. Of course, martens prefer to target smaller animals whose hunting does not require a lot of strength and energy. Martens are not spendthrifts. If a loot cannot be eaten on the spot, it ends up in a secret storage room for bad times.
If the marten penetrates a stable with poultry, its hunting instinct takes over. Instead of being content with a single chicken for acute food needs, the predator continues its rampage. Experts suspect that the reason for the massacre is that the panicked fluttering of chickens and ducks repeatedly fuels the hunting instinct. In the worst case, the bloodlust only ends when all the animals have been killed. Unlucky birds and perpetrators are both victims of their instincts. The best protection from the slaughter is a marten-proof stable building.
Vegetarian food provides variety
Martens even eat peanuts
Rising temperatures awaken martens' appetite for juicy fruit. Hungry martens enjoy eating ripe fruits, such as apricots, peaches, cherries and apples. They don't walk past lush berry bushes without munching on sweet raspberries, delicious blackberries or crunchy gooseberries. When the fruit season is coming to an end, martens don't have to starve because it's the season of nuts. Hazelnuts, walnuts, beechnuts and chestnuts cannot withstand the strong teeth and provide important nutrients for the upcoming winter. By the way, martens love to nibble on sunflower seeds.
Other food – martens eat whatever they can
Martens are very adaptable. The clever fur-bearers adapt to changes in the food supply before their stomachs growl the next time. When meat and fruit are hard to find, alternative treats come to the table. The following overview summarizes what other martens eat:
- Kitchen waste: the organic waste bin has a magical attraction for martens with all kinds of leftover food
- Carrion: dead animals eat martens completely and thus make themselves useful as furry he alth police
- Eggs: preferably raw, but also cooked and peeled as a delicious snack between meals
- Cat food: cheeky martens eat every cat bowl empty, whether the cat is standing next to it or not
- Tripe: Martens only eat tripe and other dog food in the absence of the authorized boarder
The cat food category includes other foods that people offer to farm animals and wild animals. If hungry martens roam around the garden, hedgehogs are left behind at the feeding place. Because beech martens are excellent climbers, every bird feeder is inspected for food and mercilessly plundered. Reaching fat balls is child's play for martens. However, this mouthful is punished with severe stomach cramps and diarrhea due to the high fat content.
Excursus
What do martens eat on the car?
Marderbite ranks in the inglorious fourth place among the most common insurance claims on motor vehicles. As far as the sober statistics from the GDV (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e. V.). The damage is caused because martens like to nibble on car cables. Scientists and the automotive industry are equally concerned about why wild animals attack cable hoses and whether they prefer to eat thin or thick cables. Sometimes car martens steal the insulation material installed in the vehicle. Because this damage often occurs during the mating season, female martens are suspected of using fluffy insulating wool to build a cozy nest for their offspring.
Curious about the ultimate tip against marten damage to your car? Then please take a look at the following video:
What do martens like to eat most?
Contrary to popular belief, car cables are not martens' favorite food. However, the actual favorite dish is difficult for nature lovers to cope with. Martens prefer to eat birds, chicks and eggs. In summer, ripe fruits are the most popular delicacy, and you can easily let a careless mouse or bird get away with eating them.
Tip
Foot marks provide a meaningful clue as to who is sneaking through the house or garden at night and in fog. Marten droppings can be clearly recognized because at 8 to 10 centimeters the solution is more than twice as large as hedgehog droppings. Hedgehog droppings are twice as big as rat droppings. To compare the length, simply hold a match next to the suspected excrement.
What do young martens eat?
In human care, martens can also be fed cat food or all kinds of meat
Baby martens are dependent on mother's milk or rearing milk until they are 8 weeks old. Only after a two to four week adjustment phase can the small stomach absorb and process solid food. Young martens in the wild and in breeding stations are completely weaned by the 12th week of life at the latest and have turned into little sweet tooths. 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 breeding stations, young animals are served additional treats that mother marten cannot provide. These include chicken hearts and chicken stomachs, uncooked and unseasoned, and nutritious junior cat food.
Frequently asked questions
What do martens like best?
Martens are passionate carnivores with a particular preference for birds, poultry, chicks and eggs. Of course, the predators don't want to define themselves as 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 adapt to the cold season in good time. For this purpose, the clever robbers create secret hiding places filled to the brim with all sorts of delicacies, such as fruit, nuts, eggs, insects, beetles or the remains of prey. Because supplies are not enough to last a whole winter, martens continue to hunt for birds, mice and rabbits. Unfortunately, many prey animals hibernate. If there is no hunting luck, hungry martens often turn to the garbage cans 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 find a scientifically based answer and reliable proof of this bad habit. The focus is on the following thesis: Martens mark every car that is parked in their territory with scent marks. If the marked vehicle drives into another area, the strange smell infuriates the local marten. In a rage, he attacks the car, where cables, hoses and insulation materials are attacked with sharp teeth. It is assumed that serious damage to the car is always due to the second marten.
We found an emaciated young marten in our garden. What food can we feed the approximately 4 month old young animal with?
Young martens like to eat food animals, supplemented by fresh fruit. You can purchase day-old chicks and mice as frozen food by mail order. For the marten layman, it is better to feed them with cat food, especially Animonda Kitten. Serve chopped berries or tree fruits from local fruit species once a week. With this nutritional plan, the young animal quickly builds up fat deposits. Please note that raw beef and pork are unsuitable for martens.
Tip
Martens are very welcome in the natural garden because they like numerous pests to eat. Mice and rats have a bad chance where a marten roams around at night. The predators also act as useful pest killers for voracious larvae, such as the dreaded May beetle larvae and other grubs.
