by Reinhold H. Palenske
by Leonardo da Vinci
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| Home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| That's right, weasels aren't rodents after all! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Why is this page here? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This page is here because I was tired of people calling weasels and ferrets "rats" or "rodents". I feel it is an injustice for these creatures to be grouped in the Rodent family by such a large number of people. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What are Mustelids? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mustelids are members of the family Mustelidae, often called the Weasel Family. This family includes weasels, ferrets, polecats, tayras, badgers, otters, martens, fishers, wolverines, minks, ratels, and ermines(stoats). This family DOES NOT include mongooses, meerkats, fossas, civets, rats, beavers, muskrats, squirrels, shrews, opossums, or Tasmanian devils. Mustelids are carnivores, althought some are omnivorous and at least one species, the tayra, eats primarily fruit. Mustelids are renonwed for their strength and determination. For example, a stoat will chase a rabbit for days waiting for a chance to kill it, and wolverines have been known to take down prey as big as reindeer as well as scaring predators as big as bears from a kill. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Caribou and Wolverine" by Reinhold H. Palenske |
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| Mustelids are believed to be one of the oldest mammal families, with mustelid-like forms existing as far back as 40 million years ago. They have a range of lifestyles; from the aquatic otters, to the burrowing badgers, to the tree-dwelling martens. They are also very intelligent, with the Sea otter being the only non-primate animal known to use tools, and the fisher being one of the few animals that can kill a porcupine without being hurt. Many mustelids have very strong scent glands, used for marking territory, and until recently the skunk was believed to be a member of the mustelid family. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Until very recently the skunk was classified as a mustelid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unfortunately for mustelids many of them (such as the ermine, the sable, and the mink) have been hunted over the years for their furs. One species, the Sea Mink, was even driven to extinction by fur trappers. Many mustelids are threatened in other ways; for example, oil spills and overfishing have done much damage to the already endangered Sea otter, the black-footed ferret (also severely endangered) suffers from the destruction of its habitat and its main food source the prarie dog, and the wolverine is in decline due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting. The only truly domestic member of the mustelid family is the Domestic ferret, a relative of the polecat, but in some places other species such as skunks are kept as pets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Lady with an Ermine" by Leonardo da Vinci |
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