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Weasels are of the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. The genus Mustela includes the , , , , and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. The family Mustelidae, or mustelids (which also includes , , and ), is often referred to as the "weasel family". In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel ( M. nivalis), (2025). 9780199206872, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199206872 the smallest species.
Least weasels vary in length from , females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations of some species moult to a wholly white coat in winter. They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from long.
Weasels feed on small mammals and have from time to time been considered vermin because some species took poultry from farms or from commercial warrens. They do, on the other hand, eat large numbers of . Their range spans Europe, North America, much of Asia and South America, and small areas in North Africa.
The American mink and the extinct sea mink were commonly included in this genus as Mustela vison and Mustela macrodon, respectively, but in 1999 they were moved to the genus Neovison.Abramov, A.V. 1999. A taxonomic review of the genus Mustela (Mammalia, Carnivora). Zoosystematica Rossica, 8(2): 357-364 In 2021, both Neovison species, along with the long-tailed weasel ( Mustela frenata), Amazon weasel ( Mustela africana) and Colombian weasel ( Mustela felipei) were moved to the genus Neogale, as the clade containing these five species was found to be fully distinct from Mustela.
| Mustela | Northern Asia and South Asia | ||
| Shaanxi and Sichuan, China | |||
| Europe and Northern Asia Arctic Canada and Alaska (United States) Southern Asia (non-native) New Zealand (non-native) | |||
| Mustela haidarum Preble, 1898 | Haida ermine | Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada) and Alexander Archipelago (Alaska, United States) | |
| Southern Asia | |||
| Europe, Barbary Coast and Northern Asia North America Southern Asia (non-native) New Zealand (non-native) | |||
| Mustela richardsonii Bonaparte, 1838 | American ermine | Most of North America south of Alaska and the Arctic Circle; eastern Nunavut and Baffin Island | |
| Lutreola | Japan and formerly Sakhalin, Russia | ||
| Europe | |||
| Southeastern Asia | |||
| Southeastern Asia | |||
| Europe and Northern Asia Southern Asia | |||
| Southern Asia | |||
| Putorius | Southeast Europe and Northern Asia Southern Asia | ||
| Mustela furo Linnaeus, 1758 | Ferret | Domestic Worldwide (domesticated); New Zealand (non-native) | |
| Europe, Atlas Mountains and Northern Asia | |||
| North America |
In Greek culture, a weasel near one's house is a sign of bad luck, even evil, "especially if there is in the household a girl about to be married", since the animal (based on its Greek etymology) was thought to be an unhappy bride who was transformed into a weasel and consequently delights in destroying wedding dresses. In Macedonia, however, weasels are generally seen as an omen of good fortune.
In early-modern Mecklenburg, Germany, amulets from weasels were deemed to have strong magic; the period between 15 August and 8 September was specifically designated for the killing of weasels.
In Montagne Noire (France), Ruthenia, and the early medieval culture of the Wends, weasels were not meant to be killed.
According to Daniel Defoe also, meeting a weasel is a bad omen. In English-speaking areas, weasel can be an insult, noun or verb, for someone regarded as sneaky, conniving or untrustworthy. Similarly, "weasel words" is a critical term for words or phrasing that are vague, misleading or equivocal.
They are also said to shapeshift like the fox ( kitsune) or tanuki, and the nyūdō-bōzu told about in legends in the Tōhoku region and the Chūbu region are considered weasels in disguise, and they are also said to shapeshift into ōnyūdō and little monks.
In the collection of depictions Gazu Hyakki Yagyō by Sekien Toriyama, they were depicted under the title 鼬, but they were read not as " itachi", but rather as "Japanese marten",高田衛監修 稲田篤信・田中直日編 『鳥山石燕 画図百鬼夜行』 国書刊行会、1992年、50頁。。 and "ten" were considered to be weasels that have reached one hundred years of age and became yōkai that possessed supernatural powers.少年社・中村友紀夫・武田えり子編 『妖怪の本 異界の闇に蠢く百鬼夜行の伝説』 学習研究社〈New sight mook〉、1999年、123頁。。 Another theory is that when weasels reach several hundred years of age, they become mujina ().草野巧 『幻想動物事典』 新紀元社、1997年、30頁。。
In Japanese, weasels are called 飯綱 and in the Tōhoku Region and Shinano Province, it was believed that there were families that were able to use a certain practice to freely use kudagitsune as iizuna-tsukai or kitsune-mochi. It is said that Mount Iizuna, from the Nagano Prefecture, got its name due to how the gods gave people mastery of this technique from there.『広辞苑 第4版』(1991年)、岩波書店「いづなつかい【飯綱使・飯縄遣】」の項
According to the folklore studies Mutō Tetsujō, "They are called izuna in the Senboku District, Akita Prefecture, and there are also the ichiko (itako) that use them."。 Also, in the Kitaakita District, they are called mōsuke (猛助), and they are feared as yōkai even more than foxes ( kitsune).
In the Ainu language, ermines are called upas-čironnup or sáčiri, but since least weasels are also called sáčiri, Mashio Chiri surmised that the honorary title poy-sáčiri-kamuy (where poy means "small") refers to least weasels.
Japanese superstitions
In Japan, itachi were seen as yōkai (causing strange occurrences). According to the encyclopedia Wakan Sansai Zue from the Edo period, a pack of weasels would cause conflagrations, and the cry of a weasel was considered a harbinger of misfortune. In the Niigata Prefecture, the sound of a pack of weasels making a rustle resembled six people hulling rice, so was called the "weasel's six-person mortar", and it was an omen for one's home to decline or flourish. It is said that when people chase after this sound, the sound stops.村上健司編著 『妖怪事典』 毎日新聞社、2000年、36頁。。
Kamaitachi
Kamaitachi is a phenomenon wherein one who is idle is suddenly injured as if his or her skin were cut by a scythe. In the past, this was thought to be "the deed of an invisible yōkai weasel". An alternate theory, asserts that kamaitachi is derived from "stance sword", so were not originally related to weasels at all.
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