A Siberian Weasel Poses in China - Observation of the Week, 6/21/22

Our Observation of the Week is this Siberian Weasel (Mustela sibirica, 黄鼬 in Chinese (simplified)), seen in China by @joy_wang!

“Growing up in the city, my passion for the natural world stemmed from watching documentaries and remained that way for a long time,” says Joy Wang, who credits birding, which she started up three years ago, as getting her out into the field. “I was immediately drawn to observing wildlife of all kinds and learning to identify them.”

And while in China this past February, Joy spotted a decidedly non-avian animal, which you see pictured above.

Mustela sibirica is a widely distributed mammal species in Asia. They are quite common in farm areas, but many can even be spotted in very urban environments. Agile as they are, these creatures often give me a mere glance as they rush across an opening and are nowhere to be found again. But from time to time, you encounter a relaxed individual who doesn’t faze under the spotlight. This weasel popped up from the bush and provided a fun photo opportunity. I was able to capture its adorable face as it gave a curious look at me before carrying on with its quest among the bushes.

Not only do Siberian weasels occupy many habitats in Asia, their diet is also quite diverse. They’re known to prey on rodents, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, and they also eat plant material such as fruits and nuts. In cities, they’re known to prey mostly on rats.

“I wish to grow into a generalist,” says Joy (above, with a Chinese horseshoe crab), who delved into intertidal ecology last summer when she volunteered with the IUCN Asia-Pacific Horseshoe Crabs Survey. “I try to balance school life and a heavy birding/twitching schedule. In summertime, I look at the fanciful insects and frogs. Last winter, I started tracking – Chicago’s thick snow provided great opportunities to learn about the tracks and gaits of common North American mammals.”

She’s currently a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and tries “to present an ecocentric and minimalistic value system through my work.”

I’ve only been actively submitting observations on iNaturalist fairly recently. I will no doubt be adding more past observations to this awesome global database. iNaturalist helps me keep track of what I’ve seen. I learn even faster with the help of the community IDing my observations. I enjoy the “Explore” feature where I can filter out certain taxa in specific places. iNaturalist becomes a great tool when I plan a trip to see wildlife. I love that iNat brings researchers, biologists, citizen scientists and anyone who has an interest in nature together. It’s a platform to share the same passion and enrich communal learning.

(Photo of Joy by Siqi Yu)

- you can follow Joy on Instagram here!

- the first known photo of the rare Colombian weasel was posted to iNaturalist a few years ago!

Posted on June 21, 2022 09:03 PM by