Least Weasel
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The world wide, Northern Hemispheric distribution of the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis), means there's a high probability that the world will never run out of weasels.
In fact, the IUCN lists them as as a species of least concern precisely because of wide distribution.
Its adaptability accounts for most of its large range. Anywhere with moderate underbrush, from fields to forests to farmlands to meadows to grasslands, can serve as suitable Least Weasel habitat.
Their wide distribution also translates into large species diversity. Some eighteen different subspecies have been identified, with the North American subspecies, Mustela nivalis rixosa, sometimes considered a separate species.
The name least weasel refers to the species' diminutive size. Measuring in at less than a foot in length, it ranks as both the smallest of the mustelids and the smallest of the carnivores.
Their diet consists primarily of small rodents and mammals.
While all the mustelids, including the Mustela species, historically receive bad press, it's nice to note a 1918 National Geographic (Volume 33) account of the species which says,
"Among the natives of Alaska all weasels are looked upon with great respect on account of their prowess as hunters. I found this feeling peculiarly strong among the Eskimos, whose existence for ages has depended so largely on the products of the chase.
Among them the capture of a weasel meant good luck to the hunter, and to take the rarer least weasel was considered a happy omen."
Identifying them in the wild can be as easy as looking at the tail. The tip does not end in black fur as it does with its relatives the Long-tailed Weasel and the Short-tailed Weasel.
© 2010. Patricia A. Michaels