A Pictorial Guide to the Weasel Family

This American mink shows that they have little fear of the water. Although they are not truly aquatic animals, they are strong swimmers and seem as happy to eat a fish as they are when they can eat a mouse.

Pictured is an Alaskan weasel. These cute animals are well equipped with sharp, not-so-cute teeth. The shape of the body makes them experts at following squirrels, voles, lemmings, and other rodents into their burrows.

This adorable little one is an American marten, sometimes also called a pine marten. They are inquisitive animals and are quite adept at climbing, especially trees. This allows them to get to birds and bird eggs for a quick meal.

Although the American badger has the typical tube-shaped body, they also tend to be broad, from side to side. This gives them a chubby appearance. The very strong legs are great for burrowing and this animal can dig into even rocky soil amazingly fast.

Badgers are known for having a foul disposition. In fact, every one of them that I've seen in the wild seemed perpetually grumpy and looking for a fight.

It has been said that pound for pound, there is no creature in the world more ferocious than a wolverine. Like their cousins, the badgers, wolverines are cranky. Their bad disposition is coupled with sharp teeth and claws. This animal has been known to face down and attack a bear, many times its own size. The bear will normally be the one that will retreat. They also show no fear of cougars or humans, either.

Note how similar this looks to the picture of the ermine above. This isn't an ermine, it is a weasel. However, it shows that ermines aren't the only members of the family that have a white winter pelt. In fact, in the winter it is very difficult to tell the difference between a weasel and an ermine.

If all species of the family were shown, this would be a long pictorial. However, this is fairly representative of the family and it shows both some of the differences and similarities these animals have.

These are black-footed ferrets. This species was nearly wiped out, though not directly. They feed extensively on squirrels called Prairie Dogs and when farmers and ranchers did their best to kill the rodents, the ferrets suffered tremendously. Both ferrets and prairie dogs are making a comeback.

Although in the same family, these animals aren't the same as the pets known as ferrets. The pet is actually a domesticated version of the European polecat.

The ermine is also known as the short-tailed weasel or the stoat. Technically, it isn't an ermine unless it is in its white winter phase as the one here shows. In the summer, these animals are mostly brown with lighter colored bellies and a black tip on the tail. The summer to winter coat variation is tremendous.

Both river otters and sea otters are members of the weasel family and they are primarily aquatic, eating fish, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, snails, and even shellfish. Sea otters also use tools. They float upside down, with a rock on their chests, and will beat a snail or shellfish against it until it breaks.

River otters are one of the most playful wild animals that there is. They often spend many hours a day playing and even the adults get into the act.

As a bit of trivia, no animal in the world has denser fur than the otter. It is even denser than mink.