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Unprovoked attacks on humans are extremely rare, but fishers will attack if they feel threatened or cornered. In one case, a fisher was blamed for an attack on a six-year-old boy. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] In another case, a fisher is believed to be responsible for an attack on a 12-year-old boy.
A male fisher can range up to 30 square miles, so these travelers can show up anywhere at anytime. They are equally capable of hunting day and night.
In North America, where the ecological niche for rat- and rabbit-sized prey is taken by the larger long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata), the American ermine preys on mice, voles, shrews, young cottontails, [7] chipmunks, deer mice, jumping mice, and house mice. Usually the ermine kills by biting at base of skull.
Sthenictis sp. (American Museum of Natural History). Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under 20 cm (8 in) in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) and sea otters can exceed 45 kg (99 lb) in weight.
The least weasel is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of small, burrowing rodents. The weasel's ancestors were larger than the current form, and underwent a reduction in size to exploit the new food source.
Wildlife that are attacked by cats fare poorly, even when provided with veterinary treatment by licensed wildlife rehabilitators (over 70% of mammals and over 80% of birds died in spite of treatment in one study). [56]: p. 171 Even those that had no visible injuries from the cat attack often died (55.8% of birds, 33.9% of mammals).
It is a long, slender-bodied weasel, with fur ranging from yellowish to brown to near black. It may be confused with the fisher (Pekania pennanti), but the marten is lighter in color and smaller. Identification of the marten is further eased by a characteristic bib that is a distinctly different color than the body.
In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (M. nivalis), [1] the smallest carnivoran species. [ 2 ] Least weasels vary in length from 173 to 217 mm ( 6 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), [ 3 ] females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations ...