Role in DEC research Ulinski is one of a rare breed. There are only about 200 to 250 trappers who request marten permits annually, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation biologist Paul Jensen, and only about 70 percent of those actually use the permit. For those who do trap marten in this state, they must do it in the Adirondacks. Jensen said that the state’s marten population is limited to a roughly 5,000-square-mile region that includes the Central Adirondacks. Fisher are more populous on the fringes of the Adirondacks. Some biologists believe that fisher live in areas with less snow because it’s easier for them to get around and hunt, among other reasons. Those who trap marten are limited to six per season and are required to turn in the marten carcasses and logs of their trapping activities to the DEC. There is no fisher limit. Jensen said those who do trap play in an important role in the research he does on the animals, particularly the marten. “We do get a lot of information from those carcasses,” Jensen said. “It’s very helpful for our management.” DEC biologists use the information from trappers to learn more about the marten’s diet, population trends and preferred habitats. Jensen said the information is used for management, but may also be important in interpreting future population trends. One thing they do with the marten and fishers, which have been voluntarily brought to the DEC in recent years, is extract the tooth of the animal to determine its age. “We’ll take one of the canines and they’ll section the root of the tooth and count the rings of what’s called cementum in the tooth and it’s analogous to counting rings in a tree,” Jensen said. “You can determine their age with high accuracy based upon those cementum layers in the tooth. The animal deposits a layer of cementum for every year of its life.” DEC biologists like Jensen will also look at the number of male and female martens that are harvested. He said that generally the ratio of males to females should be in the range of three to one or five to one. That’s because males are more prone to being trapped, a result of having larger home ranges and taking more risks than females. “It think males are more apt to take risky forays into baited traps than females,” Jensen said. “I’ve seen that with our live traps, where you catch a female and you never catch her again.” If the ratio gets to one to one, Jensen said the male marten population is likely depleted. Jensen said he’s also been accumulating tissue samples over the years from carcasses that have been submitted and hopes to get those analysis. He said he is doing a study to see if there is any inbreeding or any kind of bottleneck in the population “because the population is separate from all other marten populations in the northeast. I want to see if there’s any genetic consequences of that.”
Native tradition As Ulinski and I walked through the woods, we had to skirt and climb over numerous large hemlocks that had been blown down. As we traveled, Ulinski continued to keep his eyes open for signs of animal movement, including marten and fisher. “I’m looking for travel routes,” Ulinski said at one point during the day. “I want to know where rabbits and red squirrels are because they eat them.” As we returned to Ulinski’s truck, he pulled out a frozen fisher and marten that he had brought along to better illustrate his descriptions of the animals. Ulinski was planning to skin the marten later that day. Once he properly prepares the fur, he will often sell it to an agent, where it is auctioned in Canada. Sometimes he will use furs from animals he captured to make hats or other items. A marten may bring in $40 this year, he said. About five years ago, he averaged about $80 per marten. On an average year, he only makes a few hundred dollars. He isn’t doing this to make a living. It’s a hobby, part of his lifestyle. Like he said before, he traps mainly for the totality of the experience. It requires him to spend time outside. “The Indians have an interesting philosophy,” Ulinski said as we drove back to Saranac Lake. “They figure they are on earth to harvest and kill, but they must do it respectfully.”
Mike Lynch/Lake Placid News
Bill Ulinski checks a trap in the woods outside of Saranac Lake in early December.