Weasel

The weasel is a small, long-bodied meat-eating mammal found across North America, Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. Weasels belong to a family of animals called mustelids, which also includes otters, badgers, ferrets, and wolverines. There are about ten different kinds of weasels in the world. The smallest is the least weasel, and the largest is the long-tailed weasel.

Weasels are shaped like fuzzy tubes. Their bodies are long and skinny, with short legs and small rounded ears. This shape lets them chase prey down narrow burrows and tunnels. A least weasel is the smallest meat-eating mammal on Earth. An adult can weigh less than two ounces, which is lighter than a chocolate bar. Even so, it can kill animals much bigger than itself.

Weasels are fierce hunters. They mostly eat mice, voles, rats, rabbits, and small birds. A weasel can kill prey five or ten times its own size by biting the back of the neck. Because their skinny bodies lose heat quickly, weasels have to eat a lot. A weasel may need to eat up to half its body weight in food every single day.

In places with cold winters, some weasels change color. Their brown summer fur falls out and grows back pure white in the fall. A weasel in its white coat is called an ermine. The black tip of the tail stays dark all year. This color change hides the weasel against the snow while it hunts.

Weasels can be hard to spot, even when they are active. They move in quick bursts, diving under logs and popping up in new places. Some weasels do a strange behavior called the "weasel war dance." They jump, twist, and roll around in front of their prey. Scientists are not sure why. Some think the dance confuses the prey. Others think it is just a burst of excited energy.

Weasels live mostly alone, except when mothers are raising their young. A female usually has four to eight babies, called kits, in a den lined with grass and fur. The kits grow up fast. Within a few months, they are hunting on their own.

Humans have had mixed feelings about weasels for a long time. Farmers sometimes blamed them for killing chickens. But a single weasel can eat thousands of mice and rats in a year, which makes it one of the farmer's best helpers.