FAMILY MUSTELIDAE Weasels, otters & relatives
|
Long-tailed Weasel
Mustela frenata
|
|
| Long-tailed Weasel
has one of the broadest ranges of any land mammal in the New World,
extending from southern Canada to Bolivia. While widespread, it is
"generally uncommon or rare" (Reid 2006). Here in Monterey County on
the central California coast, I encounter it occasionally during the
day, but it is always on the move, bounding away with upraised tail
(above). Until the day of these shots (25 Apr 2008), I'd never managed
to snap a single photo of one. This one (above & below) was in
Pebble Beach, right near the famed Bird Rock, and dashed across 17 Mile
Drive with a vole in its mouth. |
 |
I
followed cautiously and the weasel disappeared down a burrow in the
sand dunes. It seemed apparent that the adult had carried the prey to
its young. So I just waited, and eventually the adult stuck its head
back up (left). The was in bright sunshine at 4 p.m., but the
literature does indicate that the species can be active day or night.
Apparently breeding takes place in the summer but the young are not
born until the next spring (Reid 2006).
The
pelage of Long-tailed Weasel is extremely variable. Those in the far
north have an all-white winter coat. Those here in the southwestern
U.S. are orange with a black face and a white patch between the eyes
(left & below).
|
|
|
This
adult did not seem very concerned about me. Instead, it looked around
(right) as if to determine which way to go next, and then bounded off
in a different direction than from whence it had come.
These
photos were all hand-held shots without a blind, so I felt very lucky
to have my camera available during this brief encounter. |
|
|
|
|
Literature cited:
Reid,
F. A. 2006. A Field Guide to Mammals of North America north of Mexico.
4th ed. Peterson Field Guide series. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
|
TOP
Page created 14 June 2008 |
|
