Stoat | Learn About One Amazing Animal Every Day 008

Those tiny eyes are absolutely adorable!!

The stoat is a member of the genus Mustela in the family Mustelidae.

It looks similar to a weasel, with a slender body and short limbs. Its body length ranges from 25–35 cm, with a tail length of 6–10 cm. Its fur color changes with the seasons: in summer, the back is gray-brown, the belly is white, and the feet are pale gray; in winter, the entire body turns pure white except for the tip of the tail, which remains black.

Stoats are distributed from Europe and the former Soviet Union to Japan, northern North America, and parts of China—including Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Jilin, Xinjiang, and Liaoning. They inhabit a wide variety of environments, from forests to deserts, and even alpine forests above 3,000 meters. They also live in grasslands, meadows, river valleys, marshlands, semi-desert dunes, and farmlands.