Least Weasel

Mustela nivalis

The least weasel is the smallest living carnivore. They are very rarely seen. Least Weasels are also often called Dwarf Weasels, Pygmy Weasels and Mouse Weasels. A group of weasels can be called a boogle, gang, pack or confusion.

DESCRIPTION    

Least weasels have a long, slender body, short tail and legs, dark eyes and a flat, narrow head. Their stubby ears enable them to hear very well. The fur ranges from ginger to dark brown on top with a cream or white underside. During the winter, northern and eastern weasels turn all white, white. Southern populations stay brown all year.  They typically range from 16.5 cm to 20.5 cm long and weigh about 30 – 55 grams.

HABITS AND HABITATS   

The least weasel lives mostly in Alaska and northern Canada south to Wyoming and North Carolina. They have a home range of about 2 acres that they move over in search of prey. Weasels will live in open forests, farmlands, meadows, prairies, steppe, semi-deserts and tundra. They will hunt day or night and often stand on its hind feet to look for predators or prey. Some will even have several temporary dens scattered throughout its territory. They will also use abandoned burrows of other small mammals, such as mice or gophers. Least weasels will eat meadow voles, shrews, birds, eggs and insects. They can run up to 6 mph and are small enough to chase mice inside their burrows. To kill their prey, the weasel will pounce on it, wrap its legs around the prey and kill it with a swift bite at the base of the skull.  They consume about 40 percent of its own weight per day. Like other mustelids, the least weasel will use its anal glands for defense and for marking its territory. They also give a shrill squeaking call, hiss and trill. They breed in spring and late summer and can produce a litter of 1 – 7 young. The babies (kits) are born naked, blind and deaf. A kit will usually set out on their own once their permanent teeth come through and they have gained some hunting experience.

MEET OUR LEAST WEASEL    

The WNC Nature Center is home to one least weasel. He was brought to the center as a rehab animal during the summer of ’07 and was probably born sometime early that same summer.  He is pound for pound the most ferocious carnivore we have here at the Nature Center.

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©2002 WNC Nature Center