Range of the Marten and Its Ken (detail) by Ernest Thompson Seton
This is one in an ongoing series of nature essays from Lives of Game Animals (1925-1928) written by Ernest Thompson Seton. He pioneered the use of range maps in nature publications of which the one shown here is an example.
Enemies/Vol II pg. 497-498
“Man is, of course, the chief enemy of the Marten. In all these records of observations, I do not know of one case in which a man came in contact with a Marten without trying to kill it. Kill, kill, kill, for the lust of slaughter, even when no profit could be reaped in the way of fur or protection of live stock. As noted elsewhere, the annual slaughter for marketable fur is more than 100,000. This counts only the good prime fur taken in season. The wastage from poor, damaged skins, accidental destruction, animals killed out of season, young dying through the mother’s death, would easily double this. Yes, man is the enemy.
“In another form, too, he is exerting his deadly powers. Forest fires are chiefly of man-made origin. A forest fire of 100 square miles means the destruction of all Martens within that 100 square miles. They cannot escape. The smoke pursues the fugitives, overcomes them. Their food is destroyed in the stricken area…The next deadly attack is through the encroachment of forests, made by the settler. The [species range] map indicates the ancient range, but there is a narrow belt along the south edge whence the Marten have been driven [out] by the axe. Also it ignores the million lesser acres scattered through the great pine forests, each centered on a clearing, and each denoting an area of Marten depopulation; for even the edge of an opening is repugnant to this wild wood spirit.”