Q: "Can you comment on this? [Thread regarding wild weasel sporting a mask, seen by an FML person]" A: Comment? Me make a comment? You mean spout off? Ok, if strangers wanted to look at my longtail weasel, I'd wear a wask too. Considering the fur description, size and geographic location, the animal can only be a longtailed weasel, _Mustela_frenata_. They are quite common in the area and can be as large as a female domesticated ferret (sometimes a little bit larger although it would be quite unusual for them to ever get as large as a male ferret). Shorttailed weasels, or ermine, are 1) much smaller, 2) are rarely masked, and 3) not as commonly seen. Even if black-footed ferrets were secretly released in you area, it would only be in a prairie dog colony and you can be sure it would be isolated to minimize the distemper as well as illegal collection or killing. Considering things, your chance of seeing one is not nearly as good as being struck by lightning. Besides, the blackfooted ferret lacks the black tail tip; they are extremely similar in color to a cinnamon siamese sable, having nearly black tail, legs and facial markings, a rust colored coat, with a darkened patch on the ferret's "hump," and an almost pure white facial mask. At least, that's what I saw when studying the skins in US museums. A marten is about the size of a domesticated ferret, but is mostly uniform in color and would be found in trees. Some martens have a darkened tail tip, as well as a sort of mask, but their fur is essentially uniform in color. They also have ears that are mostly triangular--like a cat--which is not mentioned. Because of size, there is no way it could be a least weasel or a fisher. As for the chance of it bing a domesticated ferret, the fact that the stomach was reported to be a different color than the rest of the coat just about excludes the possibilty; polecats (European, steppe, blackfooted ferret and sdomesticated ferret) tend to have stomach fur matching the rest of the body. Ferrets can have black tails, but I have never seen one with onlt the tail tip being black, which is almost exclusive to the smaller weasels and is very prominant when in their winter coats. Longtailed weasels have a lifeway very similar to both polecats and blackfooted ferrets, mostly hunting and denning underground. They tend to go after ground squirrels, rats, voles, mice, snakes, and insects, with minor snacks of bird (quail) and amphibians thrown in. They tame down well, especially when taken very young, but they are quite unreliable with people other than the owner. In behavior and habit, it is quite similar to the domesticated ferret. They also war dance and poof and hiss and dook and poop in the corner. Bob C and 20 Mo Masked Weasel Wannabees [Posted in FML issue 2517]