I decided to post this version today, in part because it’s been a while since I’ve posted and I wanted to let readers know I’m still kicking.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Farmington Bay WMA is wedged into a notch of the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains. The notch has an exasperating habit of funneling clouds incoming from the west directly over Farmington where they’re trapped. Much the same thing happens to morning fog, especially during winter, so it’s common for Farmington to be enveloped in either clouds or fog when it’s clear everywhere else. Collectively I call the phenomenon the “Farmington Curse”. That curse, this time in the form of fog, was much in evidence on the morning I spent some time with this Long-tailed Weasel.<\/p>\n In an attempt to mitigate some of the effects of the fog I had to do some fairly heavy-handed processing to some of the images below and it may show.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/800, f\/8, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n That time of year of course ‘he’ was in his white winter coat – in winter they’re pure white except for pitch-black eyes, a black-tipped tail and a pinkish nose. He was hunting among some boulders near the north end of Farmington WMA.\u00a0 Typical of the species, his movements were quick and sinewy as he loped around the rocks looking for voles and possibly mice. I’ve seen mice in the area before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/800, f\/8, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n Almost certainly the burrow entrance you see at lower left belongs to a vole. Given my tendency for dramatics, I can imagine a vole trembling in fear inside the burrow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This photo, of a different weasel taken at Farmington on a different date, is one of the few photos I have of a weasel with a vole.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/640, f\/8, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n OK, back to the first weasel. The fog often made it difficult to get a sharp focus lock on him and in this photo he’s soft. I’m including it because, even though it’s hard to see in the fog, I caught him as he was licking his nose with his tongue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS\u00a0USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n To the uninitiated it may be difficult to believe that this critter is also a Long-tailed Weasel. I photographed this one earlier that summer within about 100 yards of where I found the white one in the photos above (perhaps they’re the same weasel?). In colder latitudes weasels undergo a seasonal color change for obvious reasons related to camouflage.<\/p>\n In southern portions of their range they don’t become white in winter. We know that the color change is genetically controlled rather than triggered by temperature change because when southern weasels are transplanted to the snowy north, they don’t turn white in winter. And when northern weasels are moved to a location in the warm south, they still turn white in winter.<\/p>\n For northern weasels the trigger for their genetically controlled transformation is length of day so when it’s unseasonably warm in winter, white weasels stand out like a sore thumb when there’s no snow. That makes them unusually vulnerable to predators.<\/p>\n And to being spotted by photographers like me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a01\/2500, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> 100-400 @400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n I photographed this weasel on a badger mound on Antelope Island in May. This view allows a good look at their long, lithe body that is designed to go after small rodents in confined spaces. It’s interesting that Long-tailed Weasels in the southwestern states often have white facial markings, as this one does, but this is the only Utah individual I can recall seeing that had some of those markings.<\/p>\n The only part of their pelage that doesn’t turn white in winter is their black-tipped tail. Birds of prey (especially hawks and owls) are predators of weasels and in experiments, hawks presented with a stuffed weasel that lacks the black on the tail had no difficulty identifying it as vulnerable prey and attacked the weasel’s head. However, when a stuffed weasel did have a black-tipped tail, the hawks often hesitated and sometimes attacked the tail.<\/p>\n That would give the fierce little weasel a fighting chance, perhaps enough of a chance to have the black-tipped tail selected for over many generations of evolution.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And the mechanism for their seasonal color change. (6 photos)<\/p>\n![\"long-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/long-tailed-weasel-2702-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"long-tailed-weasel-2702-ron-dudley\\"")
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<\/p>\n![\"Weasel](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/long-tailed-weasel-0350.jpg\" "\\"long-tailed-weasel-0350")
<\/p>\n![\"long-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/long-tailed-weasel-2718-ron-dudley1.jpg\" "\\"long-tailed-weasel-2718-ron-dudley\\"")
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<\/p>\n![\"long-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/long-tailed-weasel-1995-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"long-tailed-weasel-1995-ron-dudley\\"")
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