For many centuries, the ermine was considered a very valuable animal; hats, collars and fur coats were sewn from its fur to noble people. It belongs to the family of martens, in appearance it resembles a caress, but a little larger than it. Depending on gender and geography of living, ermine sizes vary from 90 to 350 g, it should be borne in mind that males usually weigh twice as much as females. The length of the body is from 17 to 33 cm, and the tail - 12-13 cm. One of the smallest, but at the same time very bloodthirsty predators is considered an ermine. The animal has 34 extremely sharp teeth.
Ermine description
The animal looks very similar to a weasel, but larger than it. The body is elongated, thin and very flexible, the legs are short, there is a swimming membrane between the fingers, but it is poorly developed. The tail is very long, about 1/3 of the body, and even longer, thin, the hairline is not thick, at the end there is a short brush. The fur is especially beautiful in winter, then it fits snugly, thick, silky. To find out the ermine animal in nature, a photo is not needed, since the animal has a characteristic appearance. It has only two colors: in summer it boasts a chocolate-brown top and a yellowish or white bottom, but in winter, for the best disguise, the predator changes into a snow-white fur coat, although the tip of the tail always remains black.
Ermine distribution area
The habitat of this small predator is quite common. Ermine can be seen on almost the entire European territory, in the northern part of Asia, in New Zealand, North America. In Eurasia, the area of distribution from the north is limited by the coast of the Arctic Ocean, and from the south by the zone of subtropics. In this case, the animals absolutely no difference where exactly to live. They feel great both on the plains and in the mountains. For example, ermines often rise to a height of 3-4 km, so they are found in the Himalayas and the Pamirs.
Animal Habitats
Given the vast territory where the ermine is found, it can be concluded that the predator is not very picky about its habitat. This is a typical animal of the taiga and tundra, despite the fact that Siberia is one of the coldest places on Earth, representatives of mustelids rarely hide in impassable thicket thickets, preferring to stay in open places. Ermine traces can often be seen in the floodplains of small rivers, in lacustrine depressions. The animals in the mountainous regions of Siberia reach the char zone, where they live together with pikas among rocky placers. Ermines cannot be called shy animals, therefore they are often settled near settlements in order to be able to steal eggs.
Like many other tundra animals, ermine leads a sedentary lifestyle. If the occupied territory has enough food reserves, then the animal is unlikely to leave it, especially in the cold season. If the predator settled in the floodplain, then his personal possessions usually spread along the coast, they can occupy about 10-30 hectares. But on the terraces of ermines dominate in territories of up to 100 hectares. With a lack of feed, animals do not stay for long in one locality, preferring to lead a vagrant lifestyle.
In winter, stoats mainly live near villages, but with the onset of floods they go to neighboring forests. They swim very well, therefore they are able to cover great distances. Ermines usually live in burrows of rodents they eat, in old hollow stumps, in a pile of straw or hay, between crevices of rocks, in a pile of stones, in abandoned buildings.
The main ermine diet
As for food, an ermine is an unpretentious animal, the diet is quite diverse and depends on the habitat. These are mainly small rodents such as mice and voles. In contrast to petting, an ermine preys on large animals that exceed it in weight. For example, a predator can kill a pika, a water vole, small muskrats, black grouses, hares. Despite their small size, hamsters and ordinary gray rats are often too tough for ermine due to their natural aggressiveness.
In summer, small predators can feed on insects and amphibians, but in winter, the basis of the diet is fish. In the Far East, in small small rivers under the ice, many young fish die, which becomes the prey of nimble and dexterous ermines.
Propagation Features
The timing of pregnancy in these animals has not been established and may vary depending on the time of mating. The race starts in March and ends in September, pregnancy lasts 224-393 days. In the litter, most often there are 6 cubs, but sometimes three times as many offspring are found. The female is a very caring mother, at first she does not leave the babies for a second, if someone approaches the nest, she yells piercingly.
Like all animals from the marten family, only at one month of age an ermine opens its eyes. The animal develops rapidly, already in a month and a half the baby can cast his voice at the sight of an approaching threat, in addition, he is characterized by excessive aggressiveness and mobility. At the age of two months, ermine cubs leave the nest, play with each other for a long time, and make their first attempts to independently obtain food. Already at the age of four months, the animals leave the female and look for a place in the sun. At large, predators live for no more than 4 years. In captivity, up to 7 years old an ermine can live. The animal is actively caught by people because of the beautiful fur, so in most cases the animal dies young.
