How Pine Martens Communicate: Deciphering Their Language
The pine marten is one of Britain’s most fascinating and secretive mammals. Though rarely seen, these members of the mustelid family leave behind plenty of clues about their lives. From carefully placed scats and scent marks to flicks of the tail and bursts of chatter, pine martens have a surprisingly rich language of their own.
In this article, we explore how pine martens communicate through scent, sound and behaviour, and what these clues can tell us about their daily lives and interactions.
The Power of Scent
Arguably, the most important way pine martens communicate is through scent. They leave chemical messages around the forest using faeces (known as scat), urine, and secretions from specialised scent glands. Martens may combine these methods to reinforce a mark. Surprisingly, the scent is often described as sweet or floral, even reminiscent of parma violets, hence their old nickname the ‘sweet mart’.
Scat
Despite their elusive nature, martens often deposit scat in conspicuous locations, such as on logs, rocks, or paths, and are known to create scat piles atop the roofs of installed den boxes. By doing so, they send a clear message to other martens in the area. Inadvertently, this also makes it easier for researchers who know the likely places to spot them.
Pine marten scats are highly variable in appearance. They are often described as dark and coiled, but in truth their appearance changes drastically with the seasons, reflecting shifts in diet, from voles early in the year, to berries in autumn.
Two likely pine marten scats, exhibiting difference colouration and shape. Photo credit: Ed Snell
Scent Glands
Pine martens have specialised scent glands found on their abdomen and beneath their tail - a characteristic feature shared by all mustelid species. Their anal glands are primarily used to add scent to their scat, but can also be used independently for marking. The martens rub these glands against objects such as tree roots, logs, or rocks, leaving additional cues for other martens in the area.
Urination
Urine is another important way pine martens scent mark. When urinating, they perform a distinctive hip wiggle, which helps spread their scent over a wider area. This behaviour was once thought to occur during defecation as well, but recent observations suggest it actually occurs only with urination.
What are they trying to say?
Pine martens are solitary animals, with each individual maintaining its own distinct home range. Male home ranges generally do not overlap with other males, helping to reduce conflict. In contrast, males will often have overlapping ranges with multiple females, increasing their chances of breeding success. Because they spend much of their lives alone, effective communication is essential to navigate social interactions without direct contact.
Marking Territory
The primary message pine martens convey is simple: “I’m here.” As territorial animals, they use scent marking to signal their home range, leaving chemical cues that make their presence clear to other martens. However, scent marking is not just for other martens; it may also help the individual familiarise itself with its own home range (autocommunication), providing cues about where it has been and the layout of its territory.
Counter Marking
Where home ranges overlap, scats can sometimes form so-called ‘scat clusters’. Work in Ireland by Catherine O’Reilly and Pete Turner found that these clusters often contain deposits from multiple individuals, providing further evidence that they serve a social purpose rather than simply acting as a single marten’s latrine. Such counter marking can also occur between different species. During our Yorkshire monitoring, we even saw a fox mark the same spot as a marten, adding its own scent to the mix.
Scat cluster including at least a dozen scats. Photo credit: Johnny Birks 2024
Reproduction
Scent marking may also play a role in reproduction. In spring, during the breeding season (oestrus), the hormonal composition of a female’s scent changes, which may communicate reproductive status to males, even if not intentionally. At the same time, males tend to scent mark more frequently in prominent locations, perhaps to indicate their presence to females or to signal competition to other males.
Through these scent marks, pine martens can establish boundaries, signal reproductive status, and interact socially without necessarily meeting face-to-face.
Vocalisations and Behaviours
Beyond leaving scent marks, pine martens use a mix of vocalisations and behaviours to express themselves and interact with other martens.
Some of the more familiar sounds include chattering, which can sometimes be heard when two or more martens meet, particularly between youngsters. During courtship and breeding, they have also been described as letting out a distinctive, almost cat-like yell.
Other vocalisations, such as huffing or growling, tend to occur when a marten feels threatened, for example, during encounters with humans (Johnny Birks, 2025). Growling can also be accompanied by tail swishing - where a marten keeps its tail low and flicks it rapidly side to side. This behaviour has been noted across the UK and Ireland, and we’ve observed it several times during our own monitoring in Yorkshire. In the clip below, you can see a marten doing just that and standing up on its hind legs for a better look. Although we can only speculate, the behaviour appears to show curiosity, aggression, or perhaps a mix of the two.
Until recently, most knowledge of pine marten vocal communication came from anecdotal observations or camera trap footage. Earlier in 2025, Dan Bagur's book 'Pine Marten' was published, which includes descriptions and recordings of numerous vocalisations, helping to build a clearer picture of just how expressive these animals can be.
Pine martens may live largely out of sight, but their messages are scattered all around the places they roam. The more we learn to interpret them, the more these elusive animals begin to feel just a little less mysterious.
