What a cutey, right?

Mark Cline captured this pine marten at the Sax Zim Bog on an early morning in early December. "A cute little guy, until he bites you," Cline said.

Cline was right to be wary. Pine martens are often called the "cutest" predators in Minnesota, feasting on mice, chipmunks, red squirrels, and insects. They also eat berries and nuts.

During winter, martens hunt under the snow in tunnels. They also burrow to stay warm, in the tree roots.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, martens were once thought to live only in old conifer forests. But now biologists have learned that martens live in all of northern Minnesota in both deciduous and conifer forests.

As late as the 1950s, the marten was thought to be extinct in Minnesota, the DNR reports. A growing number began showing up and by 1985 the population was large enough for a limited trapping season. By 2001, the population was 10,000 martens, and they continue to spread south and west.