long-tailed weasel

Mustela frenata

Summary 4

The long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata), also known as the bridled weasel or big stoat is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America.

Description 5

Long-tailed Weasels are voracious predators, foraging day and night for small vertebrates, and scavenging for carrion when necessary. In captivity, adults can consume an amount equal to one-third their own body weight in 24 hours. In the wild they may store food in a burrow or near a kill site. They are solitary except for the July-August breeding season. Both males and females maintain territories, marking them with chemical secretions from anal glands. Litters usually comprise 4-5 pups, born in a den. In 12 weeks they reach full adult body weight and begin hunting for food, pursuing mates, and establishing territories. Foxes, raptors, Coyotes, domestic dogs and cats, and rattlesnakes all prey on Long-tailed Weasels, and although they can live in a variety of habitats, population densities are low. In some locations they are endangered, and in others, considered threatened or species of concern.

Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Bill Bouton, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/8086030@N03/7119285563
  2. (c) Flickr, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7084/7238561442_c489435ff7_b.jpg
  3. (c) 1999 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=116&one=T
  4. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustela_frenata
  5. (c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/6625140

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