Mustelids | Mustelidae

Marterachtigen | Mustélidos

A long tubular body on short legs: that shape lets a weasel follow a vole down its own tunnel, but it gives much surface for little bulk, so heat leaks away without pause. No species hibernates, therefore, and the smallest must eat a substantial share of their own weight every day. The feet carry five toes with fixed claws; the badger walks on the whole sole and digs an extensive sett with it, the otter has webbing. Glands at the anus give off a penetrating scent, used to mark and, in the polecats, also to defend. The killing bite is aimed at the neck. In part of the family the fertilised egg lies floating in the womb for months before the pregnancy begins, so that mating is in summer and birth not until the following spring. The fur is dense and in the otter holds a layer of air; stoats in the north turn white in winter.