Long-tailed weasel

Scientific name: Mustela frenata

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

A long, slender mustelid with a distinctly elongated body, short legs, and a tail comprising 40–50% of total length. The coat is typically tawny to yellowish-brown dorsally with white to pale underparts; many individuals show a black facial mask and pale head stripe.

Size and weight

Males 20–30 kg and 330–450 cm total length; females 15–20 kg and 280–350 cm total length. Males are noticeably larger and heavier than females.

Habitat

Long-tailed weasels occupy diverse habitats from sea level to 3,000 m elevation, including grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and agricultural areas with adequate prey and cover. They prefer open to semi-open country with brush, rocky outcrops, or fallen timber that provide denning and hunting cover.

Distribution

Found throughout most of North America from Canada to Central America, occupying the widest range of any North American weasel. Absent from closed forests and highest mountains; most abundant in open grasslands, scrublands, and agricultural zones.

Diet

Primary prey includes small rodents (voles, mice, ground squirrels), rabbits, and hares; also takes birds, insects, and carrion, with diet shifting toward larger prey items (rabbits, hares) in winter and spring.

Behaviour

Primarily nocturnal to crepuscular, with peaks of activity around dawn and dusk; solitary and highly mobile, with home ranges of 1–2 km². Males range more widely and overlap multiple female territories; they hunt along ground level and probe burrows and brush systematically.

Hunting tips

Look for tracks (four toes, claw marks, paired prints in snow or mud) and cylindrical droppings near brush, rock piles, and rodent burrows. Best located by glassing open areas at dawn/dusk and listening for movement in dense cover; approach slowly and quietly upwind, focusing on edges where grassland meets brush or rocky terrain where prey colonies are active.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 2 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.