Ode to the Weasel

So since i’m going to be learning how to ferret soon, I’ve been looking into their family. Mustela is their genus name and boy does it cover a long, long list of animals. Like for instance Badgers are part of the weasel family how weird is that lol they don’t look remotely weasely. Not just european Badgers either, North American badgers, honey badgers, all weasels! Mind you North American Badgers have the same look about them as a Wolverine and apparently they too are part of the Mustela family.

Enough of the more exotics of the weasel species. Today i’m going to discuss the british species of Mustela and I was surprised to discover that we do still get wild Ferrets in England. Their called Polecats, apparently the difference between the two species is the same as Dogs and Wolves. We domesticated the Polecat 2000 years ago and now its a Ferret, but wow we have them wild in my area which apparently means I need to keep an eye on my Ferrets if they come into Heat as they can and will mate with wild Polecats.

We also get Pine Martens in my area!! How awesome is that? Apart from Badgers they are the largest of the Weasel family in the UK and they’ve spread down here finally so if i’m lucky I may see one. Although I find them a bit scary as they look a lot more fierce while other weasels just look cute
, like a cross between a stoat and a fox. Never seen either a wild Polecat or Pine Marten so hopefully I’ll get a gander if i’m in the right place at the right time.

We get the usual Stoats, weasels and ermine in this area. I’ve actually seen a weasel a couple of times but no stoats yet. Ermine are actually just stoats in their white winter coat apparently. The American Mink of course is widespread across England at this time, I have seen Mink while I was out fishing and they are quite sweet looking. Apparently though attempts to tame it have not been entirely successful as domestic mink are like badass ferrets and bite alot. It was introduced by accident back in the 1940’s, not by the mass escapes caused by wildlife activists though, it was already established by then. Probably because established by escaping from “back yard fur operations” Which means people who bred them for fur outside of factories and stuff. I don’t actually know it its done any damage to our ecosystem they mainly feed on fish and crustaceans so I dunno, maybe they’ve pushed back the crayfish? In any case another predator in the UK is always a good thing.

 OH! Wait I know, they might be competing with another British weasel, the otter. Although actually I remember reading that Otter populations were on the rise and had rebounded nicely after they were ruthlessly hunted for their fur. Otters are one of my favorite animals though, they make a little whistling noise and it’s fun to see them back in the waters of England. Have to get up pretty early in the morning to see them though, their not exactly easy to find.

Badgers being part of the weasel family was a massive surprise to me and I don’t mind admitting it. Then again I don’t really know where I would place them on any genetic table, I’d always just assumed they were well, Badgers. You know like Osprey are just Osprey.

The weasel family is huge lol it covers loads and loads of different animals. Some of which I wouldn’t necessarily put in the same group, but uh I’m no scientist. Anyway Weasels are awesome and definitely one of the UKs more cooler looking animals.