The Least Weasel
Mustela nivalis

This weasel is common all over Italy.
Its shape is suited to hunting mice and voles by following them into their burrows: its body is long, slender and supple, its paws are short and have claws which help with climbing and digging.
Sexual dimorphism is extremely high and tied to size – the male can in fact weigh twice as much as the female.
It has relatively short fur all over its body.
The colour of its coat is nut-brown on the back and tail and cream-white on the underparts, from the stomach to the throat and the inner parts and ends of the paws.
The Least Weasel has a pair of peranal glands containing a sulphuric secretion which is collected in special sacs controlled by voluntary muscles and is released in moderate quantities as a means of marking territory and communicating.
The Least Weasel is found in a variety of habitats, from plains to mountains, in forests, grasslands, Alpine and semi-desert pastures. They are also common in anthropized environments such as farms and rural areas and can even be found living in towns.
The Least Weasel’s most essential need is an area of land with sufficient cover and rich in micromammals.
Its favourite microhabitats are luxuriant meadows, thick hedgerows, dry stone walls, hay stacks, bushes, thick undergrowths, ditches and the edges of ponds covered by dense vegetation.
The Lesser Weasel is highly specialised in hunting small mammals, particularly rodents (mice and voles), which they catch with extreme dexterity due to their ability to get into the prey’s burrows and tunnels. It also preys on other micromammals (such as moles, rats, dormice, hazel dormice etc.), birds, nestlings, eggs and rabbits if small rodents are not available.
Its diet also includes lizards and other small reptiles as well as insects.