Common Name
Ermine or Short-tailed Weasel
Order
Carnivora
Family
Mustelidae
Species Name
Mustela erminea
Status
Common
States
Alaska
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Iowa
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Maryland
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
North Dakota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Utah
Virginia
Vermont
Washington
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming
Distribution
All of Canada, northeastern US, Great Lakes region, northwestern US.
Notes
Color varies seasonally, white in winter. Mainly eats rodents and young rabbits, as well as small vertebrates and invertebrates. Nocturnal. Shriek loudly when attacking or is cornered. In Britain referred to as "stoat".
Illinois
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase. May occasionally wander in from southern Wisconsin
North Dakota
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase. Circumboreal distribution
New Mexico
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase
Ohio
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase. Occasionally wanders in from Michigan and Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase. Circumboreal distribution
Vermont
Slide symbol: P -- unusual color phase. Varies color seasonally.