True Wild Life | Weasel | The weasel is a small, thin mammal. Weasels are found all around the world apart from the Arctic and Australia including it's surrounding islands. The weasel feeds mainly on small mammals and the weasel has a bad reputation amongst farmers who do not approve of the weasel stealing their poultry and their eggs. The weasel can burrow quickly into the ground, meaning the weasel can easily escape danger including farmers that want to catch them.
The weasel tends to grow to about 30cm long with a tail roughly the same length as the weasel's body. The weasel is generally a solitary animal but some species of weasel congregate together in groups for months on end. Weasels most typically come together to mate. The weasel belongs to the same animal family as and is closely related to other animals such as ferrets,stoats and polecats. All these animals have a similarly long-shaped body and pointed snout and are all found in similar environments.
Weasels are most commonly found in wooded areas but weasels are rarely found in really dense, thick forest. Weasels burrow and nest in hollow logs and under piles of rocks and weasels will often inhabit the nest of one of their prey rather than building a new one themselves. Weasels most commonly breed during the mid-summer months and give birth to their young in late spring the following year. The female gives birth to an average of 6 baby weasels, which are pink, blind and tiny and have very little fur. After a couple of weeks the fur of the baby weasels is much thicker and the baby weasels are able to eat solid food after about a month. By the time the baby weasels are two months old, they have taught by their mother weasel how to hunt their own food and soon become independent.
Weasels are prey to numerous larger animals such as foxes, cats, snakes and birds of prey. It is because they are so vulnerable to being eaten, that many weasels will not even live to be year old. The average lifespan of a wild weasel is thought to be around 3 years but weasels have been known to live for longer in captivity. Generally, weasels prey on small animals such as mice, birds and baby rabbits. The larger male weasels however have been known to prey on larger animals that are bigger than they are.
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