As the name suggests, this is the smallest of the predators. Its length is 15-20 cm, and weight is 70-120 gr. The winter coat is white. It is present in all districts in the woods, forest edges, clearings, groves, water fronts and ditches. Sometimes it settles in manmade structures and in the yards of residential houses. Its main food is mouse-like rodents; it also eats vertebrates (frogs and lizards) and invertebrates. The least weasel most often makes shelter in tree roots, old stumps, rodent holes, deadwood and straw swaths left in the field. In the winter, it hides in the snow, where it hunts, rests and escapes from enemies and freezing temperatures. The least weasel is not a game species. But it is extremely useful as an exterminator of rodents and other pests (voles and mice). This considered, the least weasel hunt is banned, and the small mouse-eating predator is protected by law.
/ * The photos at lake.peipsi.org are cross-posted from commons.wikimedia.org and are used for familiarization purposes only. No commercial use of the photos is allowed. For more information about to use the photos see the originals on commons.wikimedia.org. /
