Least weasel
Mustela nivalis
 
ITIS Species Code:   180554         NatureServ Element Code:   AMAJF02020
 
Taxa: 
Order: 
Family: 
Mammalia
Carnivora
Mustelidae
NatureServe Global Rank: 
NatureServe State (NC) Rank: 
 
G5
S2?
 
Federal Status: 
NC State Status: 
 
---
SR
 
 
HEXAGONAL KNOWN RANGE:PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:
 
SUMMARY OF STATEWIDE PREDICTED DISTRIBUTION:
 
Land Unit
US Fish & Wildlife Service
US Forest Service
US National Park Service
US Department of Defense
NC State Parks
NC University System
NC Wildlife Res. Com.
NC Forest Service
NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt.
Local Governments
Non-Governmental Org.
Other Public Lands
Private Lands
GAP Status 1-2
All Protected Lands
Statewide
 
Hectares
0.00
217,371.06
0.00
54,969.66
3,566.34
23.40
8,209.08
2,737.38
0.00
7,526.52
6,073.56
1.35
770,209.29
89,096.25
300,084.42
1,070,687.64
 
Acres
0.00
537,135.48
0.00
135,832.96
8,812.62
57.82
20,285.07
10,316.01
0.00
18,598.43
15,008.09
3.34
1,903,228.23
223,713.38
745,076.40
2,649,278.06
% of Dist. on
Prot. Lands
0.0 %
72.4 %
0.0 %
18.3 %
1.2 %
< 0.1 %
2.7 %
0.9 %
0.0 %
1.9 %
1.9 %
< 0.1 %
0.0 %
29.7 %
-----   
-----   
% of Dist. on
All Lands
0.0 %
20.3 %
0.0 %
5.1 %
0.3 %
< 0.1 %
0.8 %
0.3 %
0.0 %
0.7 %
0.6 %
< 0.1 %
71.9 %
8.3 %
-----   
-----   
 
HABITAT DESCRIPTION:
Only known from a few records in the mountains of western North Carolina (Lee et al. 1982).

With few accounts throughout its range, a consensus among authors regarding habitat requirements for this small elusive mustelid does not appear to be established. Whitaker and Hamilton (1998) describes open habitats near water as the least weasel's primary stomping ground. Lowman (1975) indicates the weasel will use deciduous forests and fields. Open woodlands, brushy areas, fencerows, marshes, and cultivated fields are also given as possible habitats (Webster et al. 1985).

This weasel will enlarge and occupy the underground tunnels and chambers of its prey (mice and moles) after it has dispatched them or will burrow out a den of its own (Whitaker and Hamilton 1998). It will den in open woodlands, brushy or grassy fields, along fencerows, and beside marshes, streams or cultivated fields (Webster et al. 1985, Whitaker and Hamilton 1998).

NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS:

Habitat varies geographically and includes open forests, farmlands and cultivated areas, grassy fields and meadows, riparian woodlands, hedgerows, alpine meadows, scrub, steppe and semi-deserts, prairies, coastal dunes, and sometimes rural residential areas; snow cover is not an obstacle; generally avoids deep dense forest and sandy desert. When inactive, occupies burrow made by vole or mole, or rests in nest in hole in wall of building or under corn shock or similar site. Den site may change often. Young are born in abandoned underground burrows made by other mammals (or similar secluded sites).

 
MODELING DESCRIPTION:
Occupied Landcover Map Units:
Code NameDescription NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent
238 Piedmont/Mountain Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Seasonally to permanently flooded areas with aquatic vegetation. Waterlily, pondweed, hydrilla smartweed are a few of the species that can occur. Piedmont/Mountain Semipermanent Impoundment (in part)
239 Piedmont/Mountain Emergent Vegetation Emergent vegetation of all wetland hydrologies. Sites would commonly support species such as tussock sedge, rushs, and cattail alliances. Rocky Bar and Shore (in part)
267 Riverbank Shrublands Riverside shrubs with temporarily flooded hydrologies. Found in the both the Mountains and Piedmont. Containing dominants such as smooth alder and a Carolina or black willows. Sand and Mud Bar
269 Floodplain Wet Shrublands Saturated shrublands of the Piedmont, includes buttonbush, swamp-loosestrife, decodon and alders. Piedmont/mountain Semipermanent Impoundment
230 Piedmont Mesic Forest American Beech - Red Oak - White Oak Forests. Mesic Mixed Hardwood
384 Piedmont/Mountain Mixed Bottomland Hardwood Forests Includes temporarily to seasonally forests dominated by hardwood species. Hardwoods include sweetgum, red maple, sycamore which co-occur in a mosaic of bottomland and levee positions. Includes alluvial hardwood forests in the mountains. Hemlock and white pine may occur as inclusions, but are generally mapped separately. Piedmont/Mountain Alluvial Forest, Piedmont/Mountain Levee Forest
383 Piedmont Mixed Successional Forest Generally loblolly mixed with successional hardwoods. Sweetgum, tulip poplar and red maple are common co-dominants in these successional forests. No equivalent
228 Piedmont Dry-Mesic Oak and Hardwood Forests Primarily oak dominated forests, white oak is often dominant, with co-dominants including . Also represented by sweetgum and tulip poplar dominated forests. Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Basic Oak Hickory Forest, Dry Oak Hickory Forest
222 Piedmont Dry-Mesic Pine Forests Loblolly dominated forests resulting from succession following clearing. This type occurs on all moisture regimes following disturbance with the exception of the extremely xeric sites. No equivalent
382 Dry Mesic Oak Pine Forests Mixed forests of the coastal plain and piedmont. Includes loblolly pine with white, southern red and/or post oak and loblolly with water oak. On basic sites of the piedmont, eastern red cedar may co-occur with post, black, and blackjack oaks. Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Xeric Hard Pan Forest, Chestnut Oak Forest, Dry Mesic Oak Hickory Forest, Dry Oak Hickory Forest
226 Piedmont Xeric Woodlands Generally post and blackjack oak dominated woodlands. White ash and pignut hickory can be found in combination with Eastern red cedar on glades. Xeric Hardpan Forest
36 Successional Deciduous Forests Regenerating deciduous trees with a shrub stature. Commonly dominated by sweetgum, tulip poplars and maples. No equivalent
180 Agricultural Crop Fields Farm fields used for row crops. No equivalent
205 Agricultural Pasture/Hay and Natural Herbaceous Farm fields used for pasture grass or hay production, as well as old fields dominated by native and exotic grasses. No equivalent
517 Hemlock Floodplain Forest Alluvial forest with hemlock and/or white pine in mountains and western piedmont. Hydrology is generally temporarily to seasonally flooded. Canada Hemlock Forest
521 Spruce/Fir Forest High Elevation Frazer-Fir - Red Spruce, Red Spruce and Red-Spruce-Yellow Birch Forests. Tree densities included here include both woodland to forest density. Highly intermixed with Northern Hardwoods, Grassy Balds, and Shrub Balds. Red Spruce--Fraser Fir Forest, Fraser Fir Forest
522 Northern Hardwoods High Elevation forests including yellow birch, American beech, and yellow buckeye. Includes forests with Hemlock and Yellow Birch. Northern Hardwoods Forest, Boulderfield Forest
523 Grassy Bald High Elevation grassy balds including Pennsylvania sedge, mountain oatgrass, as well as shrubby areas dominated by Alleghany and smooth blackberry. Grassy Bald
524 Shrub Bald Variable phenologies, predominantly evergreen balds with rhododendon and Mountain laurels. Deciduous shrubs including green alder and Alleghany and smooth blackberry are included as well. Red Oak - Chestnut Oak Woodlands may be included in cases where the density of the woodland species is low and the shrub component is dense. Heath Bald
525 Appalachian Oak Forest A variety of oak forest types including Black, White, Scarlet Oaks in dry to mesic situations. Includes forests historically co-dominated by American Chestnut. High Elevation Red Oak Forest, Montane White Oak Forest
526 Appalachian Cove Forest Mixed Mesophytic forests of the mountains. Includes tuliptree, basswood, yellow buckeye and surgar maple. This class is mapped to include cove forests dominated or co-dominated by hemlock. Rich Cove Forest, Acidic Cove Forest
527 Appalachian Hemlock Upland hemlock forests of the moutains region. Vary from side slopes to steep slope positions. Canada Hemlock Forest
528 Appalachian Xeric Pine Forest Pine forests and woodlands on xeric sites. A variety of pines, including Virginia, Shortleaf, Eastern White Pine, Table Mountain and Pitch pine. Often small areas of dense pine within a matrix of Xeric Oak-Pine Forests. Pine Oak Heath
529 Appalachian Xeric Mixed Forest Mixed forests with Virginia, Shortleaf, Eastern White Pine, Table Mountain and Pitch pines in combination with xeric oak species. Oaks include, white, Southern Red, black, and rock chestnut. Pine Oak Heath
530 Appalachian Xeric Deciduous Forest Deciduous forests in the mountains dominated by Xeric Oak species. Species include, white, Southern red, black, and rock chestnut. High Elevation Red Oak Forest, Montane White Oak Forest
533 Appalachian Swamp Forest Evergreen and deciduous forests with saturated hydrologies. This class may contain a variety of trees species, including hemlock - red maple, pitch pine, and white pine forests. Swamp Forest-Bog Complex, Southern Appalachian Bog, Southern Appalachian Fen
534 Appalachian Wet Shrubland/ Herbaceous Saturated shrubs and herbaceous vegetation. Often mapped as an inclusion in Appalachian Swamp Forest. Southern Appalachian Bog, Southern Appalachian Fen
View Entire Landcover Legend
 
Additional Spatial Constraints:
Exclude all area outside of known range.
Exclude areas of intensive human activity including moderately to highly developed landscapes.
 
CITATIONS:
Erlinger, S. 1974. Distribution, territoriality, and numbers of the weasel Mustela nivalis in relation to prey abundance. Oikos 25(3):308-314.

Frey, J. K. 1992. Response of a mammalian faunal element to climatic changes. J. Mamm. 73:43-50.

Sheffield, S. R., and C. M. King. 1994. Mustela nivalis. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species No. 454:1-10.

Jones, J. K., Jr., et al. 1992. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occas. Pap. Mus., Texas Tech Univ. (146):1-23.

Lowman, G. E. 1975. A survey of endangered, threatened, rare, status-undetermined, peripheral, unique mammals of thes.e. National Forests and Grasslands. USDA Forest Service Contract 38-2601. 121 pp.

King, C.M. 1975. The home range of the weasel (Mustela nivalis) in an English woodland. J. Animal Ecol. 44:636-668.

van Zyll de Jong, C. G. 1992. A morphometric analysis of cranial variation in Holarctic weasels (MUSTELA NIVALIS). Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde 57:77-93.

Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal Species of the World:a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Second Edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp.

Whitaker, J.O. Jr. and W.J. Hamilton, Jr. 1998. Mammals of the eastern United States. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 583 pp.

Hall, E.R. 1951. American Weasels. Univ. Kansas Publication, Museum Natural History, 4:1-466.

Golley, F.B. 1960. Energy dynamics of a food chain of an old-field community. Ecol. Manag. 30(2):187-206.

Lee, D. S., L. B. Funderburg Jr., and M. K. Clark. 1982. A distributional survey of North Carolina mammals. Occasional Papers of the North Carolina Biological Survey, No. 1982-10. North Carolina State. Mus. Nat. Hist., Raleigh, North Carolina. 72 pp.

Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.

Hamilton, William J., Jr., and John O. Whitaker, Jr. 1979. Mammals of the eastern United States. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 346 pp.

Hall, E. R. 1981. The Mammals of North America. Second edition. 2 Volumes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York.

Schwartz, Charles W., and Elizabeth R. Schwartz. 1981. The wild mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia. 356 pp.

Baker, Rollin H. 1983. Michigan mammals. Michigan State University Press. 642 pp.

Webster, W. D., J. F. Parnell and W. C. Biggs Jr. 1985. Mammals of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.

King, C. 1989. The natural history of weasels and stoats. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca. xviii + 253 pp.

Handley, C. O., Jr. 1991. Mammals. Pages 539-616 in K. Terwilliger, coordinator. Virginia's endangered species:proceedings of a symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Heidt, G.A. 1970. The least weasel Mustela nivalis Linnaeus.Developmental biology in comparison with other North American Mustela. Michigan State Univ., Publ. Mus., Biol. Ser., 4(7):227-282.
10 March 2005
 
This data was compiled and/or developed by the North Carolina GAP Analysis Project.

For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap