Ermine

The small, slender predators are nimble hunters. Their soft, thick fur was their undoing: fur coats for kings were sewn from their white winter fur!

Characteristics

What do ermines look like?

Ermines are predators and belong to the mustelid family. They are also called weasels and, like all martens, have a slender, elongated body and short legs.

From the tip of the nose to the bottom, the females measure 25 to 30 centimeters, the males sometimes 40 centimeters.

The tail is eight to twelve inches long. A male ermine weighs 150 to 345 grams, female-only 110 to 235 grams. In summer, their fur is brown on top and yellowish-white on the sides and belly. The tip of the tail is dark.

In autumn, the brown hair falls out and thicker, white hair grows back: This winter fur of the ermine is completely white except for the black tip of the tail so that it is very well camouflaged in the snow. In areas where winter is mild and warm, the stoat’s fur remains brown.

Where do stoats live?

Ermines live throughout Eurasia from northern Spain through France, England, Scandinavia, Russia, and Siberia to Mongolia, the Himalayas, and the Pacific coast. They do not live in the Mediterranean area. In addition, ermines are common in northern North America. Ermines are not choosy and can be found in a wide variety of habitats.

They live on field edges, hedges, and forest edges, in the tundra as well as in the steppe and in light forests, but also in the mountains up to 3400 meters altitude or in parks. They can even be found near settlements.

What types of ermine are there?

There are only one species of ermine.

The mouse weasel (Mustela nivalis) is very similar to the ermine, but it is much smaller: its body length is only 18 to 23 centimeters. In addition, the border between the brown upper part of the body and the white belly is not straight, but jagged. It lives in almost the same areas as the ermine but is also found in the Mediterranean.

How old do ermines get?

In zoos or animal parks, stoats live an average of six to eight years, some even get older. When out in the wild, they don’t live as long. They often fall victim to their predators earlier.

Behave

How do stoats live?

Ermines are awake in the twilight and at night, during the day they can only be seen in summer.

The loners are usually active for three to five hours and then rest for a few hours. When they are awake, the curious animals run around busily and nimbly – just as nimbly as a weasel. They stick their noses into every hole and every hiding place, nothing in their territory remains hidden from them. From time to time they stand up on their hind legs and look out for danger from somewhere.

Ermines live in abandoned mole or hamster burrows, in mouse burrows, or in rabbit burrows. Sometimes they also seek shelter in tree cavities or under roots and in piles of stones. Stoats live in territories that they mark with scents.

The territories of male and female stoats can overlap, but the territory is defended against conspecifics of the same sex. The nests in their burrows are lined with leaves and grass. They live there alone.

The females stay in their territory all year round, the males leave their territory in spring at the beginning of the mating season and look for a female.

Friends and enemies of the ermine

In addition to owls and buzzards, foxes and larger marten species such as the stone marten and wolverine can also become dangerous to the ermine.

In addition, humans used to hunt a lot of ermines. The white winter fur with the black tip of the tail was particularly coveted and was so valuable that it was only allowed to be made into coats for kings.

How do stoats reproduce?

Ermines mate at different times of the year: they mate between April and late summer. The male grabs the female with his teeth on the neck and holds her with his front legs.

After mating, the fertilized eggs rest in the mother’s abdomen, and the young are not born until nine to twelve months later the following spring. Usually five to six young are born, but sometimes twelve. The male rarely helps raise the young. The newborn stoats are tiny: they weigh only three grams and are hairy white. They only open their eyes after six weeks. They are suckled by their mother for seven weeks.

By about three months, their fur is colored like that of adult animals, and by four to five months they are independent. In the fall, the young leave their mother and go their own way. Males are only sexually mature at the age of one year, females can mate at the age of five weeks.

How do ermines hunt?

Ermines have no trouble tracking down their prey because they can smell, hear and see very well. And because they are so slim and low, they can easily follow mice in their underground passages, for example. They kill their prey with a bite of their dagger-like canines in the neck. Sometimes it happens that ermines get into chicken coops and kill many animals there.