Siberian Weasel, Sikkim

Dibyendu Ash


Dibyendu Ash

Chosen as 'Picture of the Week'

The Siberian Weasel is found in a wide variety of habitats, including dense forest, dry areas, and human villages and towns, where it dens in any convenient shelter, including burrows of other animals.

20th of April, it was raining heavily in Zuluk, East Sikkim, and the homestay owner hurriedly came to me and said that a “Neuri-musa” (Siberian Weasel) was in his kitchen. First the weasel entered the kitchen in search of food and I took some photographs using my mobile phone and head lamp; later when the weasel stopped foraging inside the kitchen and came out beneath the roof shade, I took some close ups of this elusive beauty. Local people consider this creature as a pest or threat; since these opportunistic hunters prey on chicken. Some villagers keep this wild beauty as a pet illegally.

According to the IUCN list of threatened species, the Siberian Weasel (Mustela sibrica subhemachalana) is found in a wide variety of habitats, including dense forest, dry areas, and human villages and towns, where it dens in any convenient shelter, including burrows of other animals (Lekagul and McNeely, 1988).

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