Long-tailed weasels communicate among themselves with visual, sound, and scent cues. Females emit an attractive scent when they are ready to mate. Body language and sounds are used to communicate when weasels confront each other.
Long-tailed weasels have well-developed senses of sight, hearing, and smell, which allows them to be efficient and sensitive predators.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Long-tailed weasels are widespread and fairly common throughout their range.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Long-tailed weasels are known to raid poultry flocks (Baker, 1983).
The pelts of long-tailed weasels were available in the fur trade but were not a popular commodity. Long-tailed weasels are good mousers and ratters, so farmers do not mind having weasels around their farms because they eliminate these pests (Baker, 1983).
Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material; controls pest population
Long-tailed weasels help to control populations of rodents and rabbits.
Main prey are small rodents. Females, with smaller bodies, have better success in hunting small rodents because their bodies can fit inside the small rodent burrows. Males pursue larger animals, such as eastern cottontail rabbits. While mammals are the food of choice, these weasels eat a wide range of food, from birds to reptiles, and in the summer their diet includes fruits and berries (Baker, 1983).
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates)
The range of the long-tail weasel includes most of North America, extending from just north of the United States-Canadian border and south to Central America to northern South America (Baker, 1983). Long-tailed weasels have the largest distribution of any mustelid in the Western Hemisphere.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Long-tailed weasels are found in temperate and tropical habitats in North and Central America. These habitats range from crop fields to small wooded areas to suburban areas. They are not found in deserts or thick, dense forests. Their burrows and nests are in hollow logs, rock piles, and under barns. Sometimes instead of building a new nest, long-tailed weasels take over the burrow of one of their prey (Baker, 1983).
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: chaparral ; forest ; scrub forest
Many long-tailed weasels die before reaching one year old. However, once they have reached adulthood they may live for several years. The lifespan of long-tailed weasels in the wild is not well known.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 8.8 years.
Long-tail weasels have a long slender body, similar to other weasels. On average, males are larger than females. These weasels have long, bushy tails that are about 50% of their total body length. Body length varies between 330 and 420 mm in males and 280 to 350 mm in females, tail length is from 132 to 294 mm in males, and 112 to 245 mm in females. Long-tailed weasels have a small, narrow head with long whiskers. They also have short legs. The fur is composed of short, soft underfur covered by shiny guard hair. They are cinnamon brown in color with white under parts that have a yellow tinge. Twice a year these weasels shed their fur, once in the spring and again in the fall. This process is controlled by photoperiod. The coat of animals in northern populations is white in the winter and brown in the summer, while those in southern populations are brown year round (Baker, 1983).
Range mass: 80 to 450 g.
Average mass: 150.6 g.
Range length: 203.0 to 266.0 mm.
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average basal metabolic rate: 1.344 W.
Long-tailed weasels are feisty and aggressive and will threaten animals much larger than themselves. They may be preyed upon by larger animals, such as large owls, coyotes, or large snakes, such as eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. They are especially vulnerable to predation as young.
Known Predators:
Mating System: polygynous
Mating for long-tailed weasels occurs in the mid-summer months. After copulation, implantation is delayed and the egg does not begin to develop until March, making the total gestation time around 280 days. Birth occurs from late April to early May, and the average size of the litter is six. At birth young weasels weigh about 3 grams. They are pink with wrinkled skin, and they have white fur. At fourteen days, the white hair begins to thicken, and size differentiation makes it easy to tell males from females. At 36 days young weasels are weaned and can eat food brought back to the nest by the mother. They learn how to kill prey from the mother and by 56 days old they are able to kill prey on their own. Females mate in their first summer, but males wait until the following spring (Baker, 1983).
Breeding interval: Long-tailed weasels mate once each year.
Breeding season: Young are born from April to May.
Range number of offspring: 4.0 to 8.0.
Range gestation period: 337.0 (high) days.
Average gestation period: 280.0 days.
Average weaning age: 36.0 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3.0 to 12.0 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3.0 to 12.0 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); viviparous ; delayed implantation
Average birth mass: 3.1 g.
Average number of offspring: 6.2.
At birth, young weasels weigh about 3 grams. They are born helpless, with eyes closed, and with pink, wrinkled skin and white fur. At fourteen days their white fur begins to thicken, and size differentiation makes it easy to tell males from females. At 36 days old young weasels eyes open and they begin to be weaned and to eat foods brought back to the nest by their mother. They learn how to kill prey from the mother, and by 56 days they are able to kill prey on their own. Soon after they become independent.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care
The long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America. It is distinct from the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea), also known as a "stoat", a close relation in the genus Mustela that originated in Eurasia and crossed into North America some half million years ago; the two species are visually similar, especially the black tail tip.
The long-tailed weasel was originally described in the genus Mustela with the name Mustela frenata by Hinrich Lichtenstein in 1831.[2][3] In 1993, the classification, Mustela frenata, was accepted into the second edition of the Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference, which was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press.[3] The species, with classification and name Mustela frenata, was accepted into the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.[2] Later, in a study published in 2021 in the Journal of Animal Diversity, Bruce Patterson et al. reclassified the long-tailed weasel into the genus Neogale along with 2 other former Mustela species, as well as the two species formerly classified in Neovison.[4]
The long-tailed weasel is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of small, burrowing rodents. The long-tailed weasel's ancestors were larger than the current form, and underwent a reduction in size to exploit the new food source. The long-tailed weasel arose in North America 2 million years ago, shortly before the stoat evolved as its mirror image in Eurasia. The species thrived during the Ice Age, as its small size and long body allowed it to easily operate beneath snow, as well as hunt in burrows. The long-tailed weasel and the stoat remained separated until half a million years ago, when falling sea levels exposed the Bering land bridge, thus allowing the stoat to cross into North America. However, unlike the latter species, the long-tailed weasel never crossed the land bridge, and did not spread into Eurasia.[5]
The long-tailed weasel is one of the larger weasels (comprising both Neogale and Mustela) in North America. There is substantial disagreement both on the upper end of their size and difference in size by sex by source: one indicates a body length of 300–350 mm (12–14 in) and a tail comprising 40–70% of the head and body length. It adds that in most populations, females are 10–15% smaller than males,[6] thus making them about the same size as large male stoats, according to a second source.[7] A third states they range from 11 to 22 inches (280–560 mm) in length, with the tail measuring an additional 3 to 6 inches (80–150 mm). It maintains the long-tailed weasel weighs between 3 and 9 ounces (85-267 g) with males being about twice as large as the females.[8]
The eyes are black in daylight, but glow bright emerald green when caught in a spotlight at night.[9] The dorsal fur is brown in summer, while the underparts are whitish and tinged with yellowish or buffy brown from the chin to the inguinal region. The tail has a distinct black tip. Long-tailed weasels in Florida and the southwestern US may have facial markings of a white or yellowish colour. In northern areas in winter, the long-tailed weasel's fur becomes white, sometimes with yellow tints, but the tail retains its black tip.[6] The long-tailed weasel moults twice annually, once in autumn (October to mid-November) and once in spring (March–April). Each moult takes about 3–4 weeks and is governed by day length and mediated by the pituitary gland. Unlike the stoat, whose soles are thickly furred all year, the long-tailed weasel's soles are naked in summer.[7] The long-tailed weasel has well-developed anal scent glands, which produce a strong and musky odour. Unlike skunks, which spray their musk, the long-tailed weasel drags and rubs its body over surfaces in order to leave the scent,[10] to mark their territory and, when startled or threatened, to discourage predators.[11]
The footprint of a long-tailed weasel is about 1 inch (25 mm) long. Although they have five toes, only four of them can be seen in their tracks. The only exception to this is when walking in the snow or mud, all five of their toes are shown. Their footprints will also appear heavier if the weasel is carrying food. Another way to determine the presence of a weasel is by looking for wavy indents made by their tails in the snow.
The long-tailed weasel uses one spot to leave their feces. This spot is usually near where they burrow. They'll continuously use this spot for their droppings until it gets covered by environmental changes.[12]
A black-tipped tail, yellowish-white belly fur, and brown fur on its back and sides are distinguishing for the long-tailed weasel. Additionally, the long-tailed weasel has long whiskers, a long narrow body, and a long tail that is approximately half the length of the body and head of the weasel.[13][14][15] Compared to the short-tailed weasel the long-tailed weasel lacks a white line on the insides of its legs.[15]
The long-tailed weasel mates in July–August, with implantation of the fertilized egg on the uterine wall being delayed until about March. The gestation period lasts 10 months, with actual embryonic development taking place only during the last four weeks of this period, an adaptation to timing births for spring, when small mammals are abundant. Litter size generally consists of 5–8 kits, which are born in April–May. The kits are born partially naked, blind and weighing 3 grams, about the same weight of a hummingbird. The long-tailed weasel's growth rate is rapid, as by the age of three weeks, the kits are well furred, can crawl outside the nest and eat meat. At this time, the kits weigh 21–27 grams. At five weeks of age, the kit's eyes open, and the young become physically active and vocal. Weaning begins at this stage, with the kits emerging from the nest and accompanying the mother in hunting trips a week later. The kits are fully grown by autumn, at which time the family disbands. The females are able to breed at 3–4 months of age, while males become sexually mature at 15–18 months.[10]
The long-tailed weasel dens in ground burrows, under stumps or beneath rock piles. It usually does not dig its own burrows, but commonly uses abandoned chipmunk holes. The 22–30 cm (8.7–11.8 in) diameter nest chamber is situated around 60 cm (24 in) from the burrow entrance, and is lined with straw and the fur of prey.[10]
The enemies of the long-tailed weasel are usually coyotes, foxes, wildcats, wolves, and the Canadian lynx. The weasel will give off its musky odor, however, this is not primarily used when encountering other creatures. When leaving an area they were just in, they will leave their odor behind. This is done by the weasels taking themselves and hauling their bodies across surfaces they just interacted with. The long-tailed weasel does this to "discourage predators" from coming back to the area, possibly indicating that the weasel considers this a safe haven for return.[8] This type of reaction is also reserved for when the weasel feels it is in danger, or when it is looking for a mate.[16] Tree-climbing is another type of defense mechanism that long-tailed weasels utilize against predators on the ground.[17] These weasels will climb up a reasonable height of a tree when they sense that they are in danger. They will then sit silent and "motionless", while looking at their presumed predator. These weasels keep their guard up like this until the predator leaves, and when the weasel considers itself no longer in danger.
Another common defense of long-tailed weasels is its black-tipped tail, which differs in color from the rest of the body.[18] When the long-tailed weasel becomes more white in the winter, this defense mechanism is especially used. The black-tipped tail distracts predators from the rest of the body, as it is more visible to the eye of a predator.[19] This causes the visibility of the actual weasel to be rather difficult and makes the predator attack the tail instead of the weasel. The weasel is allowed to escape the predator because of this.
The long-tailed weasel is a fearless and aggressive hunter which may attack animals far larger than itself. When stalking, it waves its head from side to side in order to pick up the scent of its prey. It hunts small prey, such as mice, by rushing at them and killing them with one bite to the head. With large prey, such as rabbits, the long-tailed weasel strikes quickly, taking its prey off guard. It grabs the nearest part of the animal and climbs upon its body, maintaining its hold with its feet. The long-tailed weasel then manoeuvres itself to inflict a lethal bite to the neck.[20]
The long-tailed weasel is an obligate carnivore which prefers its prey to be fresh or alive, eating only the carrion stored within its burrows. Rodents are almost exclusively taken when they are available. Its primary prey consists of mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, shrews, moles and rabbits. Occasionally, it may eat small birds, bird eggs, reptiles, amphibians, fish, earthworms and some insects. The species has also been observed to take bats from nursery colonies. It occasionally surplus kills, usually in spring when the kits are being fed, and again in autumn. Some of the surplus kills may be cached, but are usually left uneaten. Kits in captivity eat from ¼–½ of their body weight in 24 hours, while adults eat only one fifth to one third. After killing its prey, the long-tailed weasel laps up the blood, but does not suck it, as is popularly believed. With small prey, also the fur, feathers, flesh and bones are consumed, but only some flesh is eaten from large prey. When stealing eggs, the long-tailed weasel removes each egg from its nest one at a time, then carries it in its mouth to a safe location where it bites off the top and licks out the contents or if they have babies in the den they may hold it in their mouth all the way back to them.[20]
As of 2005,[17] 42 subspecies are recognised.
In North America, Native Americans (in the region of Chatham County, North Carolina) deemed the long-tailed weasel to be a bad sign; crossing its path meant a "speedy death".[35]
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The long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America. It is distinct from the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea), also known as a "stoat", a close relation in the genus Mustela that originated in Eurasia and crossed into North America some half million years ago; the two species are visually similar, especially the black tail tip.
