Weasels are small, slender carnivores in the family Mustelidae. They are not generally dangerous to humans, but they are aggressive hunters that can prey on small pets like rabbits, birds, and rodents. True weasels are wild animals and are illegal to keep as pets in most US states, the UK, Canada, and Australia. The animal often kept as a "pet weasel" is actually its domesticated cousin, the ferret (Mustela furo).
A weasel is a carnivorous animal with a slender body and particularly small legs. It eats rodents and other small mammals, and is sometimes considered a pest or a ‘nuisance animal’.
We have a tendency to get attached to things (at least, to some extent) just by looking at them; if something looks pretty/cute, we assume that it’s a harmless and lovable creature. This axiom holds good not only when we look at our fellow humans, but practically everything that we come across in our lives.
For instance, weasels look quite cuddly and adorable, but these tiny furballs are actually quite ferocious when it comes to locating and hunting their prey.
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Weasel: The Animal
A weasel is a small carnivorous mammal native to North America, much of South America, Eurasia, and parts of North Africa. They are absent from sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and most oceanic islands, though the least weasel has been introduced to New Zealand and a few Mediterranean islands. It is a highly active predator, and typically moves over surfaces with a series of quick, short jumps.
It is also known to be a fairly skilled climber, and therefore poses a serious threat to birds and their eggs in nests atop tree branches. Since a weasel eats quite frequently, it’s almost always looking for and hunting its prey, which usually consist of rats, voles and shrews.
Size Of The Weasel
Size varies dramatically by species. The least weasel (Mustela nivalis), the smallest living carnivore, has a body of about 6.8 to 8.5 inches (17 to 22 cm) and a 1.3 to 2 inch (3 to 5 cm) tail. The long-tailed weasel is much larger, reaching 11 to 16 inches (28 to 42 cm) in body length with a tail of 4 to 12 inches (11 to 29 cm). Across the genus, males are slightly bigger than females. Their long, slender body frame lets them follow prey into the tightest burrows.
Weasels generally have brown or red upper coats and white bellies; however, in northern populations of the least weasel, stoat (which is then called the ermine), and long-tailed weasel, a seasonal autumn molt replaces the brown summer fur with a new pure-white winter coat for snow camouflage, driven by shortening daylength.
Weasels are often confused with stoats (a close relative of weasels). The most distinguishing feature about weasels is that they are significantly smaller than stoats and never have a black tip on their tails.
Scientific Classification Of The Weasel
The weasel belongs to the Mustelidae family. Most of the classic weasels sit in the genus Mustela, alongside the stoat (ermine), the European mink, polecats, and the domestic ferret. In 2021, the long-tailed weasel, Amazon weasel, Colombian weasel, and American mink were reclassified into a new genus, Neogale. The wider family Mustelidae also includes more distant cousins such as badgers, martens, fishers, otters, tayras, and wolverines, but those animals are not in the same genus as weasels.
Mustelids are the largest and most diverse family in the order Carnivora. Animals of the weasel family are typically small, but they are very active predators and meat eaters.
Where Do Weasels Live? (Habitat Of The Weasel)
Weasels generally live in nests and burrows in hollow logs, rock piles and under barns. They also tend to attack their prey, perform a ‘hostile takeover’ of their nest and then live there. Weasels are commonly found in crop fields, woodlots, grasslands and brush piles. In fact, weasels can be found anywhere that their primary prey (i.e., other rodents) are found.
From a broader perspective, weasels are found practically all around the world, barring Australia, Antarctica and nearby islands.
Habits And Behavior Of The Weasel
Although weasels mostly feed on small rodents, they are also known to feed on small birds, their eggs and young rabbits. While male weasels pursue and attack larger animals, like cottontail rabbits, female weasels, with their smaller bodies, are deft at entering the tiny burrows of rodents and attacking them there. Their long, slender bodies are particularly helpful for attacking prey inside the latter’s own burrows.
Don’t let the cute faces of weasels influence your opinion about their demeanor; weasels are murderous creatures! Since they constantly lose a lot of body heat, they have to eat very frequently to keep up their energy. Due to this, they kill and eat about half their body weight on a daily basis!
Weasels will attack a moving creature if they determine that it’s prey, regardless of how hungry they feel. Biologists call this surplus killing: the kill reflex is triggered by prey movement, so in an enclosed space with multiple darting animals (like a henhouse), a weasel may keep killing well past its appetite. The excess is usually cached and eaten later, an adaptation to their extreme metabolism and unpredictable winters.
Weasels usually move across surfaces in a series of short, quick jumps, and they often stop and stand upright to do a swift situational analysis.
When cornered, a weasel can discharge a thick, foul-smelling, yellowish fluid from its anal scent glands. The chemistry is related to skunk musk (sulfur compounds like thietane), but unlike a skunk, a weasel cannot aim a directed jet. The smear is enough to distract a predator and give the weasel a window to make a run for it.
Weasels As Pets
First, a clarification: the animal most people picture as a "pet weasel" is actually the domestic ferret (Mustela furo), the domesticated form of the European polecat, which has been kept as a pet and working animal for over 2,000 years. True weasels (least weasel, long-tailed weasel, etc.) are wild animals, have never been domesticated, and are illegal to keep without a wildlife permit in most US states, the UK, and Canada. They are entirely prohibited as pets in Australia. From a safety perspective, true weasels are harmless to humans unless provoked (a cornered weasel can deliver a sharp, painful bite), but they are a serious risk to small household pets. If you have kittens, rodents, birds, or puppies in the house, a true weasel is not a workable option.
Furthermore, since weasels are very small and move very close to the ground, they could easily be stepped on or ‘messed with’ by babies, which could trigger them to bite in self-defense.
If you want a weasel-like companion, the practical (and legal) choice in the US and UK is a domestic ferret, which is social, trainable, and has a long history of being kept as a pet. True weasels remain wild animals best appreciated from a distance.
