Posted by Janet Harriett on Apr.07, 2010

Photo Credit: Steve Hillebrand/ US Fish and Wildlife Service

In April, Green Diva Mom looks at weasels. Throughout history, “weasel” has been a catchall for members of the mustelid family which also includes otters, mink. Weasels are also related to badgers, ferrets, skunks and wolverines.

Weasels are known more in popular imagination than in actual encounters. Although weasels are fairly common, most people haven’t ever seen a weasel, even though a weasel may live nearby. The long-tailed weasel is the most wide-ranging mustelid, found throughout North America. While not found in thickly wooded areas, they are known to live in small stands of trees, grasslands and fields. Least and short-tailed weasels stick to the northern parts of North America and rarely venture farther south than the Great Lakes. Long-tailed weasels range throughout most of the U.S.

However, weasels are small for a carnivore, and built to chase prey into burrows, kind of like a dachshund. Weasels have long bodies, but very short legs, so even the largest of the weasels, the long-tailed weasel which weighs in at about 12 ounces and measures 16 inches from nose to tail, is still fairly low to the ground. The smallest, the least weasel, is only 2 1/2 ounces and 8 inches long, making it the smallest North American carnivore and often mistaken for a juvenile weasel even when it is full grown. The short-tailed weasel weighs about 6 ounces and is a bit over a foot long.

Unlike many wild animals, weasels aren’t particularly afraid of humans - or much else for that matter - and may not run away if they know a human has seen them. Weasels get around by bounding more than walking, and their rear paws land almost exactly in the prints of their forepaws.

Weasels give birth to an average of six young. Some species of weasels have one litter per year, in late spring and early summer, while others can have up to 3 litters per year. Weasel young are weaned after about a month and can hunt on their own by two months old.

In captivity, weasels live 8-9 years. In the wild, most weasels don’t make it to one year old, and the lifespan of those that do reach adulthood is unknown, since weasels are not extensively studied.

Check back through April for an examination of how weasels and humans coexist, the weasel’s ferocious reputation and fun weasel facts.

Share

Posted under Living, Nature and Environment.