Weasels may look cute and cuddly, but trust us: you don't want to get too close to these little beasts. Here are seven things you might not know about the fierce furballs.
They might have cute little faces, but weasels are also bloodthirsty. It’s a matter of necessity: they have super-fast metabolisms and need to kill and eat about half their body weight every day. As a result, they’ve become fearsome hunters. The weasel corners and grabs its prey, wraps its muscular body around the animal to immobilize it and then delivers a single killing bite to the back of the head, puncturing the skull or spinal cord. You know what other animal kills like that? The jaguar.
The weasel’s bloodlust is instinctual and triggered by movement. Even on a full belly, a weasel will kill anything that moves and looks like prey. And to the tenacious weasel, pretty much everything looks like prey. Tiny weasels have been seen killing and carrying off animals twice, four times, and even 10 times their size.
When prey is plentiful, a frenzied weasel will often kill much more than it can eat. This is no problem; the leftovers will keep. Weasels evolved in cold climates, and learned to use this to their advantage. They dig little underground caches near their den entrances and keep them stocked with leftovers. In the winter, when it’s too cold to go outside, a weasel can just go to the fridge and pull out yesterday’s vole or that extra mouse from last week.
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Krugman makes annoying “wheek wheek wheek” noises, chews things, and stinks.
Where are the other 5?