Mustela nivalis
Attila Steiner · SagarejoGeorgia field photo
The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is a small predatory mammal in the weasel family. It occurs naturally in Georgia and lives there year-round. It is considered the smallest of the carnivorous mammals. Its head and body measure about 13–26 cm, and its tail is relatively short. It is not venomous; the main risk to people is a bite when they try to catch it. Worldwide, its risk of extinction is low.
Identification
This small predator has a long body, a brown back, a white belly and a short tail. Its tail tip is not black, which is especially helpful for telling it apart from a stoat. It lives in Georgia year-round.
A weasel’s head and body measure about 13–26 cm, and its tail about 1.5–9 cm. Its weight can range from a few dozen grams to about 250 grams. Males described in the Caucasus are about 17.6–26.5 cm long and are usually larger than females. It has a narrow, fairly flat head, a long neck, short legs, and small, rounded ears.
The back, sides, outer sides of the legs and tail are brown, ranging from dark chocolate to pale sandy brown. The belly, throat and inner sides of the legs are white. The boundary between brown and white is almost straight in some animals and uneven in others. The tip of the tail may be slightly darker, but it is not black. This is one of the main ways to tell it apart from an ermine.
The stoat (Mustela erminea) looks most like the weasel. Stoats are usually larger, though the two can sometimes be the same size. In winter, when a stoat’s fur is white, the tip of its tail is still black. The stone marten (Martes foina) and pine marten (Martes martes) are much larger and have bushier tails. The fox is also clearly different in body shape.
It is not venomous. If you see a small, very fast, long-bodied brown animal with a white belly and a short tail in a garden, near a stone wall or in the grass, it may be a weasel. Do not pick it up; watch it from a distance.
In Georgia, weasels may be found in grassy areas, among shrubs, in the countryside, at forest edges, on rocky slopes and in the mountains, especially where there are small rodents. They often avoid completely open places, where birds of prey can easily spot them. In Georgia, weasels are found at elevations of up to 3,800 metres above sea level. Weasels have been recorded in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Lagodekhi, the Kveseti–Kobi road corridor and Telavi. Publicly available photos also document sightings in Adjara, Kakheti, Mtskheta–Mtianeti and Samtskhe–Javakheti. These records show only that weasels were seen at particular places. They do not tell us whether weasels occur throughout a region or how many live in a given area.
The least weasel map combines Reptiles.ge field photos with public iNaturalist photo observations. Regions come from the records-by-region table; for this species, one record is enough to confirm distribution. A highlighted region does not imply presence throughout it, and record counts do not measure population density.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
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Related guides
Questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Least weasel.
Yes. The weasel is native to Georgia and is also included in the country’s mammal lists.
The weasel lives in grassy areas, places covered with shrubs, the countryside, forest edges and the mountains, especially where there are rodents. The map’s table includes photos of it from Adjara, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Samtskhe-Javakheti. There are also reports of it from Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Lagodekhi, the Kveseti-Kobi corridor and Telavi. These records cover individual places and do not show its full range.
The least weasel has a small, long brown body and a white belly. Its short tail has no black tip. A stoat has a black tail tip, while martens are much larger than the least weasel.
This species measures about 13–26 cm from the head to the end of the body. Males described in the Caucasus measure about 17.6–26.5 cm in the same way.
It mainly eats small rodents.
It is active both during the day and at night. It lives in Georgia year-round and does not move elsewhere with the seasons.
Its call is rarely heard. The recording shown here is from Spain. The person who made it is unsure whether the sound comes from this animal.
It is not venomous, but it may bite if you catch it. Do not pick it up; leave it where it is.
Worldwide, it is considered to face relatively little threat. One national assessment in Georgia reaches the same conclusion. Georgia’s 2014 Red List does not classify it as threatened.
References
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
