Long-tailed Weasel
Long-tailed weasels have a long slender body, short legs and a small, narrow head with long whiskers. Their fur is brown, almost the color of cinnamon, and yellowish-white underneath. Long-tailed weasels that live in northern areas have white fur in the winter, which then turns brown in the summer. These sly creatures have a very long tail, almost half of their body length.
Habitat: Long-tailed weasels can live in many different places, mostly throughout North America and southern Canada. They like open woods, grasslands, river bottoms and fence rows. In Idaho, they can be seen on BLM lands with upland brush, but they also like to live on subalpine rock slides, semi-open forests, and rocky, mountainous regions.
Long-tailed weasel, courtesy National Park Service Food: These little weasels love to eat small mammals like pocket gophers, mice, ground and tree squirrels; and chipmunks. They will also eat birds and their eggs and other small animals such as snakes, frogs, and insects.
Fun Facts: When young weasels are born, they are helpless with pink skin and soft, white fur. However, after 36 days, they are weaned from their mother and by 10 weeks old, they can hunt on their own.
