Mauswiesel Schleswig-Holstein

The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is regarded as the smallest carnivore in the world and belongs to the family Mustelidae. Head-and-body length ranges from 11 to 26 cm, the tail measures 2 to 8 cm, and body weight varies between 25 and 250 grams. Females remain on average smaller and lighter than males. In summer the upper side is brown and the underside white, with a characteristically jagged border between the two colours. Feet and tail are brown, and a black tail tip is absent. In northern parts of the range the coat may turn completely white in winter, but this is rarely observed in Central Europe.

Least weasels occupy structurally rich open and cultivated landscapes (Offen- und Kulturlandschaften) such as dry meadows, fields, hedgerows, stone piles, fallow land and open woodland with shrub cover. They avoid closed forests and high mountain elevations. The decisive factor for their presence is a sufficient density of small mammals, in particular field voles and bank voles, which form the bulk of the diet. Thanks to its slender, elongated body the least weasel can pursue its prey directly into their underground burrows. Small birds, eggs, lizards, amphibians and insects are taken in addition. The animals are active by day and night, live solitarily and use established runs within their home range.

It is distinguished from the larger stoat (Hermelin, Mustela erminea) by roughly half the body size, a shorter tail, the jagged boundary between brown upper and white under side and above all by the absence of a black tail tip. From the much larger polecat (Iltis, Mustela putorius) it is separated by its slim, elongated body, the clearly two-toned coat and the absence of the dark facial mask. The hunting and conservation status of the least weasel varies across the DACH region and differs between Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as between individual federal states and cantons; across large parts of the range the species is subject to year-round closed season or has been removed from huntable species lists entirely. The respective current regional regulations are always authoritative.