116 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



The Louisiana fouine does not differ in any of its blood- 

 thirsty or predacious habits from the well-known actions of 

 the weasel in other parts of North America. It is bold and 

 inquisitive, fearless and ferocious, alert almost to the point 

 of nervousness and a hunter without a peer. Belonging to 

 a group of animals that bears its common name, the Weasel 

 family, or Mustelidae, it is a close relation of such impor- 

 tant fur animals as the mink, otter, skunk, badger, marten 

 and wolverine, and, like the others of its race, is small as to 

 size, fierce and bloodthirsty in habit, endowed with remark- 

 able endurance and, possessing a long and slender body, is 

 quick and graceful in all its movements. 



While the weasel is the diminutive member of its family, 

 the animal found in Louisiana is larger than some of the 

 species found in other parts of North America, such as the 

 least weasel that occurs in the northern sections of the con- 

 tinent from Alaska to Hudson Bay and south to Minnesota 

 and Montana. The least weasel is about 7 inches in length, 

 while the Louisiana species is double that size. 



In the north the weasel is called the ermine because 

 while in summer its coat is of a dull brown color, in winter 

 this color gives way to a wholly and pure white pelage 

 excepting the very back tip of the tail, and it is this white 

 fur, set off with the black tail tips, that has long been the 

 "ermine of royalty." 



The Louisiana weasel does not turn white in winter as 

 do its cousins of the snows and from the live specimens 

 observed, the coloration does not seem to change with the 

 seasons. It is of a reddish-brown above and white, tinged 

 with yellow, on the underparts, with a white chin spot. Our 

 weasel possesses the black-tipped tail and there seems to be 

 a darkish, if not black, dorsal stripe extending along the 

 back and down the upper part of the tail. 



While there is no sexual difference in color, the female 

 is always smaller than the male, and measurements of two- 

 weasels taken in St. James parish are: 



