Would You Know A Weasel If You Saw It?
By Diane Tipton, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Statewide Information Officer
These days the word weasel is used in reference to someone who is a little shifty more often than it is used to point out a small, slender mammal with tiny eyes.
In movies and cartoons, characters with narrow, weasel-like features are often the bad guys. "Weasel words" are insincere. And, a band in Kansas City calls itself "The Weasels—a rodent-rock party band."
This last example is a clear case of mistaken identity that illustrates what actual weasels are up against when it comes to being recognized.
First of all, a weasel is definitely not a rodent. Rodents are small mammals with large gnawing incisor teeth that continue to grow throughout the animal’s life. Rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, or marmots.
A weasel is a small carnivorous, or flesh eating, animal with a long, slender body and tail, short legs, and brown fur that in the case of the ermine, the long-tailed weasel and least weasel turns white in winter. Weasels around farms prey on rodent, birds, rabbits and poultry.
You may find that the word weasel calls up only a vague image, or you might wonder if you are confusing a weasel with a mink, or maybe a ferret? They are easily confused because weasels are members of a big family with many similar characteristics.
In American usage, the animals that specifically carry the name we asel are mammals in the genus Mustela of the larger, diverse Mustelidae, or weasel family. A genus is a closely related group.
The Mustelidae family in its entirety includes: the badger, black-footed ferret, fisher, least weasel, long-tailed weasel, marten, mink, northern river otter, short-tailed weasel and wolverine, according to the online Montana Animal Field Guide on the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks web site at fwp.mt.gov .
Here is a quick survey of this fascinating family.
The five mustela weasels, grouped together in this genus, are the least weasel, short-tailed weasel, long-tailed weasel, mink, and the black-footed ferret .
Of these, the least weasel is the smallest carnivore in North America. It feeds almost entirely on mice and pursues rodents into runways and burrows. It is less than 10 inches in length and weighs one to three ounces.
The short-tailed weasel is also known as the ermine. Intermediate in size and best known for molting to white in winter, the ermine is about 7 to 13 inches in length and weighs one to six ounces.
The long-tailed weasel, the largest and most widely distributed of the three North American weasels, is recognized by its long slender body, long neck and tail. This weasel weighs between three and 12 ounces and can be 11 to 16 inches in length.
The mink, at 19 to 28 inches in length and 1.5 to 2 pounds, is a semi-aquatic carnivore. It lives on shorelines where it eats mice and rats, frogs, fish, rabbits, crayfish, muskrats, insects, birds and eggs.
The endangered black-footed ferret is a species of concern in Montana. It is weasel-like in body shape and form but heavier than other weasels. Prairie dogs are an important food source for the black-footed ferret.
Among the other weasel family members— river otter, fisher, marten, badger and wolverine—two, the fisher and wolverine, are also species of concern in Montana.
The diverse Mustelidae family also contained the skunk, until recent advances in DNA testing made it clear the skunk belongs in their own family, Mephitidae .
Recent News
