No, that's yours. Mine's cuter!
Funny how yours are Least Concern, and ours we very nearly lost forever.
> The steppe polecat .. greatly resembles the black-footed ferret of North America, with the only noticeable differences between them being the steppe polecat's much longer and softer fur, shorter ears, and shorter postmolar extension of the palate.[17] It has four pairs of teats and well-developed anal glands, which can produce a sharp-smelling liquid which is sprayed in self-defence.
One more with the anal glands!
Well, they're really just skinny skunks, aren't they?
No, skinny badgers. Weasels by any other name.
Skunks are something else.
They share a superfamily with the mustelids.
I just love how circumboreal stoats are. The mini-weasels, ermines.
I've had them run over my legs while I was sitting leant up against a rock watching them play.
Youngsters, all same litter.
> In the Northern Hemisphere, mating occurs in the April–July period. In spring, the male's testes are enlarged, a process accompanied by an increase of testosterone concentration in the plasma. Spermatogenesis occurs in December, and the males are fertile from May to August, after which the testes regress.
Wow, mankind would be so much better off if we worked that way, you know?
> Stoats undergo embryonic diapause, meaning that the embryo does not immediately implant in the uterus after fertilization, but rather lies dormant for a period of nine to ten months.[36] The gestation period is therefore variable but typically around 300 days, and after mating in the summer, the offspring will not be born until the following spring – adult female stoats spend almost all their lives either pregnant or in heat.
Okay, maybe some parts of mankind wouldn't be so keen.
Oh maybe my little friends were the least weasel. It was up above treeline, and the little guys are Mustela nivalis. :)