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New York Weasel — Part 2
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I am inclined to think that this black point serves its owner in a variety of ways, though at first thought one might think it would prove conspicuous on the white surface of the snow and in contrast with the intense white of the remaining fur. But if you place a weasel in its winter white on new-fallen snow in such a position that it casts no shadow, you will find that the black tip of the tail catches your eye and holds it in spite of yourself, so that at a little distance it is very difficult to follow the outline of the rest of the animal. Cover the tip of the tail with snow and you can see the rest of the weasel itself much more clearly; but as long as the black point is in sight, you see that, and that only.
If a hawk or owl, or any other of the larger hunters of the woodland, were to give chase to a weasel and endeavour to pounce upon it, it would in all probability be the black tip of the tail it would see and strike at, while the weasel, darting ahead, would escape. It may, moreover, serve as a guide, enabling the young weasels to follow their parents more readily through grass and brambles.
One would suppose that this beautiful white fur of winter, literally as white as the snow, might prove a disadvantage at times by making its owner conspicuous when the ground is bare in winter, as it frequently is even in the North; yet though weasels are about more or less by day, you will seldom catch so much as a glimpse of one at such times, though you may hear their sharp chirrup close at hand. Though bold and fearless, they have the power of vanishing instantly, and the slightest alarm sends them to cover. I have seen one standing within reach of my hand in the sunshine on the exposed root of a tree, and while I was staring at it, it vanished like the flame of a candle blown out, without leaving me the slightest clue as to the direction it had taken. All the weasels I have ever seen, either in the woods or open meadows, disappeared in a similar manner.
How hawks, owls or foxes ever succeed in catching them is a mystery, yet they do from time to time, though certainly not often enough to reduce the number of weasels at any season. Still, though weasels breed rapidly, they never become very numerous, for which there is reason to be thankful.
In summer the weasel's fur is a peculiar shade of soft reddish-brown, and in spring and fall the blending of white with brown gives a curiously pied and mottled appearance; the tail at such times being divided in sections of brown, white and black.
Weasels make their homes under stumps and in the hollow roots of old trees, or else they take possession of the burrows of ground-squirrels, often having killed the original occupants.
They also make use of woodchucks' burrows, particularly such as have been abandoned by woodchucks for a season, and later appropriated by cotton-tail rabbits, who the weasels are undoubtedly glad to find at home.
Weasels travel by silent gliding leaps, often covering several yards at a bound, their hind feet falling exactly in the tracks of the front ones. Their footprints in the snow are close together in pairs, one foot slightly in advance, and the pairs separated by intervals of from one to ten feet or more. In soft snow their slender bodies leave their impress from one pair of footprints to the next.
They are great wanderers, traveling miles in a single night, and frequently being gone on long hunts for weeks together.
Varieties of the New York Weasel and Related Species
New York Weasel. Putorius noveboracensis Emmons. Description and range as above.
North Carolina Weasel. P. noveboracensis notius Bangs. Similar, but darker, with belly yellow instead of white. Does not turn white in winter.
Maine Weasel. P. noveboracensis occisor Bangs. Larger, with longer tail and heavier, broader skull.
Long-tailed Weasel. P. longicanda spadix Bangs. Larger than any of the above (18 inches long), with the under parts strong buffy yellow.