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September 8, 2015 by Bronwen Warner Leave a Comment

Wondering about weasels

Another interesting post about one of the slightly less obvious animals by Auntie Jane  🙂

While I was scouting for Michael Le-May’s astounding photo of a Green Woodpecker trying to shake off a weasel mid-flight when I had woodpeckers on the brain, I spotted this amazing footage of another weasel bird encounter.

These tiny predators, smaller than stoats are the smallest of the European carnivores, indulge me if you will as I have a fancy to approach this # in the style of Johnny Morris, a childhood hero.

Weasels are (in my slightly warped mind at least) the animal equivalent of the human animal Size Zero models : they are sleek, long, & in good condition very glossy, they too have a high surface area to body weight ratio and thin layer of body fat, and get cold really quickly.

size-zero5296

Unlike said models, however, who I doubt eat very little, if anything at all and I certainly can’t imagine for a moment spend their days rushing about jumping & climbing as they hunt for prey (at least of the edible variety!).

Their staple diet is small & squeaky – shrews, voles & mice, however, if they are skilled & hungry enough they will tackle eggs, small birds (including the odd Green Woodpecker) & rabbit kittens as well. (I’m back on weasels now in case you are worried about Size Zero models dietary habits!

Weasels live in burrows, too busy hunting & eating to make their own, they tend to be the former residence of mice or voles. I don’t know what the exact arrangements are, but I doubt very much that Estate Agents & contract exchanges are involved.  I suspect that the reasons for property becoming vacant, maybe more chilling & probably down to the weasel… Having acquired their chosen property they do take time to furnish it with hay & moss in preparation for the patter of tiny feet.

Mr & Mrs Weasel will have single litter of “kittens” of between 3 & 6 per year, so it’s as well for everyone involved that they grow up fast! Weaned by four or five weeks they are entirely independent at 3-4 months & may even start a family of their own in their first year of life.

So it won’t come as a great surprise then to learn then, that despite the continuing persecution of the weasel by Game Keepers to protect game birds from being eaten by them; the Weasel population is a long way away from being on the concerned list let along the endangered one.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, weasel’s have a bit of “rep”: “A weasel comes to say “Happy New Year to the Chickens” Chinese proverb, Weasel Words & let’s not forget the notorious Toon Patrol variety in Who Framed Roger Rabbit…

toon-patrol-member

The Native Americans who have  a thankfully more balanced vies of nature in their vast store of stories about nature have several about weasels, this is one of my favourites.

Mustela_nivalis_-British_Wildlife_Centre-4Weasels  are identifiable by their  brown coats and creamy white underbelly. If you spot a Weasel in the UK with a black tip to it’s tail, or if you happen to be in Scotland in winter with white coat (Ermine) then it isn’t a weasel, it’s a stoat.

If you see a large group of white fur clad, sleek looking creatures surrounded by photographers in the wild, then it’s a photo shoot of Size Zero models; and if you happen to have a tin or two of red-paint on you, you know what has to be done….

Well that’s all we have time for today, but I will leave you this song inspired by the Mike-le-May pictures  (and you think I’m weird!)

Ever seen one of these tiny creatures?

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