Anyone catch the article on weasels and stoats in the Smithsonian magazine?
It was really good although it never mentioned polecats which I thought a
little weird.  It did mention what the researchers called the "dance of
death".  "She appeared to be both manic and systematic, demented and yet
thorough, qualities that have also been ascribed to the reputed "dance of
death" in which the weasel spins and sometimes somersaults like a lunatic,
causing birds to gawk and draw close.  At the height of the dance, the
weasel, suddenly sane, darts out and puts a death lock on the neck of the
nearest member of the audience." Hmmmmmmm not any birds I know.  Later it
says some people think it might be caused by parasites found behind the eye
in the eye sockets.  They also mentioned their necks being so long so they
can carry prey without it getting in the way.  Interesting!  Some good
pictures - the stoats are really pretty.
 
Someone - probably Giesela threw up the treat I gave them after I came
home. :(   I wonder if weasels get intestinal blockages.
 
Mary, Boris and Giesela
[Posted in FML issue 1856]