We had a brief appearance today by an animal we don't often see in our Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program. An animal control officer brought us this cute (but strong smelling!) Least Weasel. Seems a homeowner trapped it and thought it was someone's escaped pet Ferret. Turns out, it is from the same animal family, but different species.
We ID'd it as a Least Weasel, based on the size and lack of a black tip of the tail. The Least Weasel has a mostly brown summer coat, which turns all white in the winter to match the snowy surroundings. Because they blend so well, are super quick and most active at night, Least Weasels are rarely spotted.As the smallest carnivores in the world, their sleek bodies allow them to follow mice into burrows but they can also climb trees and swim! As our staff discovered today, these weasels also put out a strong "musk" odor when alarmed!
Regardless of the type of weasel we had o
n our hands, our advice was to have the officer return this healthy-appearing wild animal back to its' natural habitat. In this case, that meant the "wild" backyard woods of suburban Westlake, where weasels can actually be beneficial in controlling the rodent population. 
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