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Weasel

Identification

Weasels usually have a light brown upper coat and a white belly; in many species, populations living at high latitudes moult to a pure white coat in winter. Their tails are typically almost as long as the rest of their bodies. Weasels are intelligent creatures that are known for their cleverness and guile.

Although members of the weasel family vary in size and color, they usually have long, slender bodies, short legs, rounded ears, and anal scent glands. A weasel’s hind legs are barely more than half as long as its body (base of head to base of tail). The weasel’s forelegs also are notably short. These short legs on a long, slender body may account for the long-tailed weasel’s (Mustela frenata) distinctive running gait. At every bound the long body loops upward, reminding one of an inchworm. In the typical bounding gait of the weasel, the hind feet register almost, if not exactly, in the front foot impressions, with the right front foot and hind feet lagging slightly behind. The stride distance normally is about 10 inches (25 cm).

 

Range and Habitat

Three species of weasels live in North America. The most abundant and widespread is the long-tailed weasel. Some that occur in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico have a dark “mask” and are often called bridled weasels. The short-tailed weasel occurs in Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern, Great Lakes, and northwestern states, while the least weasel occurs in Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern and Great Lakes states.

Some authors report finding weasels only in places with abundant water, although small rodents, suitable as food, were more abundant in surrounding habitat. Weasels are commonly found along roadsides and around farm buildings.

A typical den has two surface openings about 2 feet (61 cm) apart over a burrow that is 3 to 10 feet (0.9 to 3 m) long. Other weasel dens have been found in the trunk of an old uprooted oak, in a bag of feathers, in a threshing machine, in the trunk of a hollow tree, in an old mole run, a gopher burrow, and a prairie dog burrow.

 

Fun Facts

Weasels are active in both winter and summer; they do not hibernate. Weasels are commonly thought to be nocturnal but evidence indicates they are more diurnal in summer than in winter.

Weasels, like all mustelids, produce a pungent odor. When irritated, they discharge the odor, which can be detected at some distance.

The young are blind at birth and their eyes open in about 5 weeks. They mature rapidly and at 3 months of age the females are fully grown.

 

Damage Identification

Occasionally weasels raid poultry houses at night and kill or injure domestic fowl. They feed on the warm blood of victims bitten in the head or neck.

 

Legal Status

All three weasels generally are considered furbearers under state laws, and a season is normally established for fur harvest. Check local and state laws before undertaking weasel control measures.

 

Damage Prevention and Control Methods

Exclusion
Block all entrances 1 inch (2.5 cm) or larger with 1/2-inch (1.3-cm) hail screen or similar materials.

Trapping
Set No. 0 or No. 1 leghold traps inside a protective wooden box. Live traps.

Other Methods
Not applicable or effective.

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The above information was adapted from PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF WILDLIFE DAMAGE with permission of the editors, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Robert M. Timm, and Gary E. Larson (Cooperative Extension Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Animal Damage Control, Great Plains Agricultural Council Wildlife Committee).

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