Mammal Web Page

The Long-Tailed Weasel by:

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Carnivora
Family	Mustelidae
Genius	Mustela
Species	frenta

Habitat

Weasels like to live in riparian woodlands, marshes, shrubby fencerows, open areas, adjacent forests or shrub bush rows. In the tundra, some live in rock areas that have vegative areas next to them. Weasels like climb trees and can swim well.

Detailed Description

In the winter the weasel is all white with black tipped tail (as seen above). In the summer the weasel is tarnish brown with a yellowish white stomach. The tail still stays the same color as the winter. Weasels are hunted in the winter for their fur to make coats and clothing.

Range

The weasel range extends to Southern British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and south through most of U.S. Areas of California, most of Nevada and Arizona are without weasels.

Food

Weasels eat small rodents, birds and reptiles. Their favorite food is the eastern cottontail rabbits. Females are better at hunting small animals while males are better at hunting larger animals. Females bodies are smaller and can fit inside small burrows and grab food.

Human Impact

The human impact on weasels it that it destroys their environment. We do this by throwing trash into rivers, streams, and unprotected landfills that pollute the water weasels drink. Humans also hunt weasels for their valuable fur which is used for coats and other clothing.

Survival

Imagine you were a baby weasel who was trying to survive every day in a war with animals twice the size of you! How would you survive? That's what it's like every day for a weasel especially young ones! Weasels have a difficult time to survive every day.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of a Long-Tailed weasel is not very long. Fifty-six days or so after birth they are able to hunt and kill there own prey. When they are old enough to hunt on their own they will leave their parents. Weasels live approx. five years.

References

I would like to thank enature.com, animaldiversity.com, and yahoo.com for the pictures and information. Everything that you and read I got from those websites. I f you go to them you will find plenty of information on weasels.

Description	Habitat	Range	Food	Life Cycle
Survival	Facts	Human Impact	References	Links