weasel

 

name for certain small, lithe, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae (weasel family). Members of this family are generally characterized by long bodies and necks, short legs, small rounded ears, and medium to long tails. All have scent glands, generally used for territorial markings but in some animals for defense. True weasels belong to the genus Mustela, with species found in Eurasia, N Africa, and the Americas. Weasels are very active and chiefly terrestrial but are able to climb trees. They prey on small animals by night, often killing more than they eat, and spend the day in dens made in holes in the ground, rock piles, or hollow stumps. Although they are notorious for destruction of poultry, the damage they do is far outweighed by their value as destroyers of rodents. Weasels are usually brown, with white underparts. Species living in snowy regions acquire white coats in winter and are then known as ermine. The most widely distributed weasel, Mustela erminea, is known in Europe as the stoat and in North America as the short-tailed weasel. It is about 16 in. (40 cm) long including the 5-in. (13-cm) tail; it has a white winter coat through much of its range and a characteristic black tail tip the year around. It ranges from the Arctic Ocean to central Asia, S Europe and the central United States. The much smaller M. nivalis, known in Europe simply as weasel, is found in Europe, N and central Asia, and N Africa. It turns white only in the extreme northern parts of its range. Among the New World weasels is the tiny least weasel, measuring only 7 or 8 in. (18–20 cm) in total length; it ranges from the N central United States to N Canada and Alaska. There are many other true weasel species, mostly in the Old World. Besides these, the genus Mustela includes the polecat, ferret, and mink. African animals of several genera in the weasel family are called striped weasels; they are characterized by conspicuous black and white markings and, in some cases, by the use of scent for defense. Among these is a skunklike animal with a powerful odor known as the zorilla. The weasel family also includes the marten, fisher, and wolverine, as well as the more distantly related skunk, badger, honey badger (or ratel), and otter. Weasels are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Mustelidae.

Bibliography

See B. Gilbert, The Weasel (1970); C. King, Weasels and Stoats (1989).

Weasels
Long-tailed Weasel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Mustelidae Subfamily: Mustelinae Genus: Mustela Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Mustela africana Mustela altaica Mustela erminea Mustela eversmannii Mustela felipei Mustela frenata Mustela kathiah Mustela lutreola Mustela lutreolina Mustela macrodon Mustela nigripes Mustela nivalis Mustela nudipes Mustela putorius Mustela sibirica Mustela strigidorsa Mustela vison

Weasels are mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. Originally, the name "weasel" was applied to one species of the genus, the European form of the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis). Early literary references to weasels, for example their common appearances in fables, refer to this species rather than to the genus as a whole, reflecting what is still the common usage in the United Kingdom. In technical discourse, however, as in American usage, the term "weasel" can refer to any member of the genus, or to the genus as a whole. Of the 16 extant species currently classified in the genus Mustela, ten have "weasel" in their common name. Among those that do not are the stoat or ermine, the two species of mink, and the polecats or ferrets.

Weasels vary in length from fifteen to thirty-five centimeters (six to fourteen inches), and usually have a light brown upper coat, white belly and black fur at the tip of the tail; in many species, populations living at high latitudes moult to a white coat with black fur at the tip of the tail in winter. They have long slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails are typically almost as long as the rest of their bodies. As is typical of small carnivores, weasels have a reputation for cleverness and guile. They also have tails that can be any where from 22-33 cm long and they use these to defend the food they get and to claim territory from other weasels.

Weasels feed on small mammals, and in former times were considered vermin since some species took poultry from farms, or rabbits from commercial warrens. Certain species of weasel and ferrets, have been reported to perform the mesmerizing weasel war dance, after fighting other creatures, or acquiring food from competing creatures. In folklore at least, this dance is particularly associated with the stoat.

Collective nouns for a group of weasels include boogle, gang, pack, and confusion.^[1]

Weasels are found all across the world except for Australia and neighbouring islands.

Species

The following information is according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, and IUCN 2006 for the extinct Mutela macrodon.

Species	Species Authority	Common Names	Geographic Division1
Mustela africana	Desmarest, 1818	Tropical weasel	South America
Mustela altaica	Pallas, 1811	Mountain weasel	Europe & Northern Asia Southern Asia
Mustela erminea	Linnaeus, 1758	Stoat Ermine	Australia (non-native) Europe & Northern Asia (non-native) North America Southern Asia (non-native)
Mustela eversmannii	Lesson, 1827	Steppe polecat	Europe & Northern Asia Southern Asia
Mustela felipei	Izor and de la Torre, 1978	Colombian weasel	South America
Mustela frenata	Lichtenstein, 1831	Long-tailed weasel	Middle America North America South America
Mustela kathiah	Hodgson, 1835	Yellow-bellied weasel	Southern Asia
Mustela lutreola	(Linnaeus, 1761)	European mink	Europe & Northern Asia
Mustela lutreolina	Robinson and Thomas, 1917	Indonesian mountain weasel	Southern Asia
Mustela macrodon	Prentis, 1903	Sea mink	North America
Mustela nigripes	(Audubon and Bachman, 1851)	Black-footed ferret	North America
Mustela nivalis	Linnaeus, 1766	Least weasel	Europe & Northern Asia (non-native) North America Southern Asia (non-native)
Mustela nudipes	Desmarest, 1822	Malayan weasel	Southern Asia
Mustela putorius	Linnaeus, 1758	European Polecat	Europe & Northern Asia
Mustela sibirica	Pallas, 1773	Siberian weasel	Europe & Northern Asia Southern Asia
Mustela strigidorsa	Gray, 1855	Black-striped weasel	Southern Asia
Mustela vison	Schreber, 1777	American mink Mink	Europe & Northern Asia (non-native) North America

¹ Europe & Northern Asia division excludes China.

Popular culture references

In English-language popular culture in particular, the term "weasel" is associated with devious characters. Many of these references tend to treat weasels as a species rather than a genus; for example, in Brian Jacques' Redwall series, weasels are one of many villainous races, along with rats and ferrets — although ferrets, biologically speaking, are a species of weasel. In the Dilbert cartoons, some of the most devious characters are portrayed as weasels or with weasel-like features. In reference to the weasel's reputation for skullduggery, the phrase "weasel words" means insincere or devious speech. Elements of the American media described the declaration by France, Germany, and Belgium against the 2003 invasion of Iraq as "The Axis Of Weasel", a pun on the "Axis of Evil". A popular cynical office poster states, "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines," meaning that office workers who stay low and act in their own self-interest may be less likely to rise in the organization but are also less likely to be destroyed as a result of office politics.

British popular-culture references to weasels are generally specifically to the Least Weasel. For example, Alan Lloyd's novel Kine, about a fictional war in the English countryside between weasels and the invasive species mink, depicts the latter as sadistic, voracious invaders, giants in comparison to the weasels; in American usage, both species would be kinds of weasel. Similarly, in Kenneth Grahame's popular story The Wind in the Willows the villains are the weasels and the stoats, again two species of weasel in American usage. Here everyday usage reflects the original European use of the word weasel for a single species.

A kamaitachi is, according to Japanese myth, a malevolent, weasel-like wind spirit, wielding a sharp sickle. They are nearly always depicted in groups of three individuals, and the three act together in their attacks; the first one hits the victim so that he/she falls to the ground, the second slashes with the sickle, and the third partially heals the wound. Also in Japanese mythology, weasels represent bad luck and death.

A cartoon shown on Cartoon Network is entitled I Am Weasel, whose main character is a weasel.

A notable and infamous character of the American animated series Animaniacs is Minerva Mink, a beautiful, vain yet shallow mink female who is particularly chased after for her fur. Although intended to be a major character of the series, the depiction of her sexuality on children's television caused a censor uproar, forcing the writers to deemphasize her character. Although Minerva starred in two cartoons, she remained a semi-prominent member of the show's cast.

Music parodist Weird Al Yankovic wrote a song entitled Weasel Stomping Day, which was later made into a short video shown in an episode of Robot Chicken. It depicts weasels being stomped to death.

References

• Mustela (TSN 180552). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 July 2007.
• Mustelid, Viverrid & Procyonid Specialist Group (2002). Mustela macrodon. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 24 July 2007.
• Nowak, Ronald M., and Ernest P. Walker. Walker's Carnivores of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN 0801880335, ISBN 0801880327.

1. ^ Bertrand, John. A Gulp of Cormorants???. The Bosque Watch. Volume 14, Number 2, April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.

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