For the 4th day of #ArtAdventCalendar, the prompt from #WildOctoberArt was “teeth & claws,” so naturally, I chose a long-tailed weasel. They may look like the most adorable thing known to man (fight me) but they are incredible predators. Con’t

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They often prey on animals 2x, 3x, 4x+ their size. One of their main forms of locomotion is hopping, & in combination with their elongated shape, just heightens the adorable factor.

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NPS photo

I have so many stories of the weasels I would see at @denalinps being adorable AF, but I’ll share one in particular from this past summer. I was mist-netting birds early in the morning & each time I’d come back to my banding station to work up birds... (cont)

I noticed this weasel making repeated trips across the parking lot, each time w/ a vole in its mouth. I watched the weasel return each time to a central location: in a little hole underneath a nearby building. I watched this happen at least 4 or 5 times, each trip w/ a new vole.

I wondered to myself-how the hell is this weasel killing voles so dang fast?! Later in the morn, someone from the kennels reported a bird that was killed by one of the dogs (yeah, this happens & it’s not cool) & I took the bird carcass & placed it near the entrance of the burrow.

I hadn’t seen the weasel in a bit, but sure enough, next time I checked, the bird was gone. That persistence of that adorable killer was amazing!

I always say-I may not be a mammal person ( #BirdsFTW) but I sure as hell love mustelids (the family that weasels, & close badass relatives like otters, badgers, & WOLVERINES belong to).

/fin

Photos taken from wikimedia commons

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