Cool Facts About The Siberian Weasel

• The Siberian Weasel is a medium-sized weasel species which is widely distributed throughout their native range of Asia
• This furry predator is also known as the Himalayan Weasel, Yellow Weasel and my personal favourite, Kolonok (I have no idea what this last one means but it sure is fun to say)
• As a result of their wide distribution range throughout Asia, the Siberian Weasel is listed as Least Concern in on the IUCN risk for extinction list. Basically this means this particular weasel should be around for quite awhile, provided we don’t go in and destroy all of their habitat

A Nice Winter Coat

If you happen to see the Siberian Weasel during the winter, you will notice that they are wearing a very large coat. In order to protect themselves from the harsh environment they live in, this particular weasel grows a dense layer of soft and fluffy underfur, which keeps them nice and toasty warm. They protect this layer of fur with 3 to 4 centimetre (1.18 to 1.5 inches) long layer of guard hairs which defend against the harsh elements such as rain, wind and anything else mother nature can throw at it.

As you can imagine this thick coat of fur is often sought after, which has lead to legalized hunting throughout Russia. Luckily for our little weasel friend, the demand for their fur on an International level is quite small, so they hunting and trapping probably won’t bring their population to lower levels.

The Active Hunter

If you live in an urban area in China then you may be thankful for the Siberian Weasel. Why? Well, the favourite city snack for the Siberian Weasel is a rather large and unpleasant rodent. Yes, that’s right, this weasel cleans the rats off the streets. In their more natural habitat these fluffy weasels will feed on a variety of small mammals including water voles, chipmunks, squirrels, muskrats and any other mammal they can chase down. The Siberian Weasel is an active hunter that will chase their prey down so don’t be surprised to see a weasel chasing down a large rate in a city near you. Once they catch their dinner, they will feed on a portion of it and store the rest for a rainy day. After all, you never know when you will be stuck looking for food.

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