Pacific marten reports in New Mexico gather in the high country of the state’s north, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Carson National Forest, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the kind of old conifer forest with deep snow and downed logs this weasel relative depends on. It’s a genuinely different landscape from the desert basins that dominate most of the state.
New Mexico’s rank of S2, Imperiled, points to real scarcity here, on top of a total of just 14 records. Scientists only confirmed the Pacific marten as separate from the American marten in the early 2010s, based on skull shape and DNA, so some historical New Mexico sightings recorded under the older combined name may not even be reflected in this count.
The dated records are too thin and scattered across the year to describe any dependable season of higher activity.
Full species profile
