A new yard mammal.



Based on online information I think this is a short tailed weasel.




We first noticed it in the yard about 5 days ago, racing through the grass, up and down trees and bushes and burrowing around our little water feature.

Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, May 27, 2022.

Mustela genus(?)
As nocturnal animals, weasels sleep during the day and are active at night. Most of a weasel's time awake consists of hunting, storing excess food and eating. Their bodies don't store fat, so they need a constant supply of food to provide enough energy. In fact, the least weasel eats 40 to 60 percent of its body weight every day, according to the Nature Conservancy.

Though weasels can dig their own burrows quite quickly, they sometimes take over other animals' burrows and make them their own. They have even been known to take over termite hills.
source - Live science.

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