Weasel
The weasel ( Mustela nivalis ) is smallest Mammifère of the family of the mustélidé S and also constitutes the smallest carnivorous mammal of Europe with a size of approximately 20 cm for a hundred grams only. The weasel can easily be confused with a Hermine which is however a little larger and the limit of the colors is less clear and more irregular in the weasel than at the hermine. Moreover the hermine has the black end of the tail, not the weasel.
Presentation
Size: the weasel measures of 17 with 27 cm (the male being larger than the female). the female weighs approximately 65 grams, against 125 grams on average for the male.
Characteristic: the weasel has a long fine body, which enables him to thread in a hole not larger than a part of 2€. Its peeling is brown on the back and white on the lower parts. The tail, short, does not comprise a black end, contrary to the hermine.
Food: Small rodents, rabbits, let us oisillons.
Habitat: the weasel affectionate meadows, arable lands and wooded areas.
Distribution: Eurasia (of the Atlantic coast European with the the Himalayas) and North Africa. At summer introduced in New Zealand.
Food
The weasel consumes mainly small rodents (in particular the Campagnol S). Its physique is ideally adapted to continue them until in their burrows and galleries. Its short legs, its slender body and its narrow head enable him to slip into the narrowest cracks and cracks, prohibiting any refuge with its preys. Those are killed out of a frightening bite, because of the astonishing power of its jaws and its sharp-edged teeth. Moreover, the weasel also proves to be climbing very nimble, enabling him to plunder the bird's nests.
Lifestyle
Active of day like night, the weasel carries out a frantic lifestyle. Indeed, because of its small size, its energy resources are very limited, and the weasel must thus nourish itself and thus drive out regularly to remain in life (its digestion is carried out in 3 hours). The weasel must thus consume each day the equivalent of a third of its weight to survive, and cannot remain several hours without eating.
Reproduction
The weasels couple themselves especially during spring and the summer. Gestation lasts 5 weeks, the last ranges being born in September. If food is abundant, the female can low put 2 ranges from 4 to 9 young people each one. The male does not intervene in the education of small. This task falls on the female, subjecting it to severely tested: it must indeed conclude its pregnancy, produce milk in sufficient quantity, keep its small with the heat and nourish itself. Its success is thus due mainly to manpower of field voles; what can involve important variations in the population of the weasels. The small ones are born naked and blind, their eyes opening only at the end of 4 weeks. But as of the 8 weeks age, they can kill their preys and they leave the nest between 9 and 12 weeks.
Dangers
Three principal dangers threaten the weasel: hunger, the parasites (in particular the Ascaris) and the predatory ones (Fox, Cat, Dog, hermine, Owl), making that it must constantly be held on its guards.
Name
Its name of " small belle" finds itself in close forms (" small dame" , " small fiancée" , etc) in many European languages.
Classification UICN
According to the red List of the UICN, the weasel is classified minor Préoccupation (LR/Lc LOWER RISK/Least Concern )
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