American Stoat (Short-tailed Weasel)
Mustela richardsonii
ID Notes 4
The Short-tailed Weasel, Mustela richardsonii, is also known as the ermine or stoat. It is most commonly confused with the Long-tailed Weasel. Both species are ferret-like in shape, with a small head, long thin body, and short legs. Both have brown coloration above and white or yellowish fur on the belly, and both have a black tip at the end of the tail. Both turn white in winter in New York, except for the tail tip which remains black. The short-tailed weasel can be differentiated by its slightly smaller size and the shorter tail. The tail of the Long-tailed Weasel is 3 - 6.5 inches long, while the tail of the Short-tailed Weasel is only 1.5 - 3.5 inches long. The Short-tailed Weasel body is 7.5 - 13.5 inches long, while the Long-tailed weasel is 11 - 22 inches long. When in the brown color phase, the color of the feet also differs, with Long-tailed weasels having brown feet and the Short-tailed Weasels having white feet.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Christian Back, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Christian Back
- Steve Hillebrand, USFWS, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustela_erminea.jpg
- (c) Mustela_erminea_winter.jpg, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustela_erminea_winter_cropped.jpg
- Adapted by Robin Foster from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustela_richardsonii
