Woodpile Sketches - Least Weasel

The least weasel is the smallest living carnivore.

These little creatures don't get more than about 6 inches long and only weigh a few ounces. The male is slightly larger than the female.

In spite of being barely larger than some mice, it is a very effective mouse hunter, and so it spends a lot of time in places like our woodpile. It has perfected a method of killing mice that is instant and always effective: it pierces the base of the mouse skull with its needle-like teeth. It then often lives in the nests of mice that it has killed.

The least weasel is the smallest of the weasel family and perhaps the easiest to identify because of its size. In addition, least weasels do not have a black tip on the end of their tails, as do its larger cousins: short-tailed and long-tailed weasels. Weasels go by other names, including "ermine" and "stoat" - which is the commonly used name for them in British countries.

There are a number of literary references to weasels and stoats, including those in the Wind in the Willows and Watership Down... and also the "woozles" in Winnie the Pooh.

Like other weasels, the least weasel turns completely white in winter (referred as "moulting" into white or becoming "ermine").

The least weasel has a reputation for being a vicious fighter and an effective carnivore. It is able to kill creatures as large as wild rabbits by using a skull bite, in spite of the fact that the prey may be up to ten times its own size.