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What Do Short-Tailed Weasels Eat?

The short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) is a member of the weasel family that inhabits most of Alaska, Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest, New England and parts of the Midwest. The short-tailed weasel is a carnivore, adept at hunting small or large prey, with some of its prey bigger than the weasel. The weasel's diet consists of the animals it kills, as well as other things when prey becomes scarce.

Diet
- An assortment of animals makes up the menu of the short-tailed weasel. Also called a stoat or an ermine, this carnivore hunts and eats shrews, cottontail rabbits, moles, voles, mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks and birds. Frogs, fish, insects, snakes and lizards are also included in their diet. Snowshoe hares are food for the short-tailed weasel in much of Canada and Alaska. The majority of the diet of this mammal consists of mice and meadow voles, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals."
Storing Food
- During the summer months, when fruits and berries are in season and ripe, the short-tail weasel will eat them on occasion. If the chance arises, this creature will put away any extra food it manages to kill for later uses. In such instances, the short-tailed weasel kills anything available and caches it to eat when food supplies become low. Normally, the weasel buries extra food and returns later on to consume it.
Hunting
- The male short-tailed weasel grows to sizes about twice that of the female, between 7 1/2 inches and 13 1/2 inches. This enables it to kill larger prey. However, the short-tailed weasel only tries to kill something much larger than itself only out of necessity, when other animals are difficult to find. The short-tailed weasel hunts along the ground, often running the length of fallen logs. In pursuit of food, the weasel can climb trees and even venture into the water after a meal. They hunt mainly during the nighttime, although they are active during the daylight hours.
Killing Prey
- Using a quick dash to catch a potential victim, the short-tailed weasel then jumps onto its prey with all of its feet. It quickly tries to bite the neck of the animal close to the base of its skull. Short-tailed weasel have a habit of licking the blood of a victim prior to consuming it, giving rise to legends that they have the ability to suck blood from animals. These hunters sometimes become prey themselves, killed and eaten by predators such as hawks, owls, snakes and larger carnivorous mammals.

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