![\"long-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/long-tailed-weasel-2702-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFarmington is in a sort of wrapped bowl of the Wasatch Mountains which traps clouds – the bane of bird photographers.\u00a0 Much the same thing happens to morning fog, especially during winter.\u00a0 Collectively\u00a0I call the phenomenon the “Farmington Curse” and that curse, in the form of fog, was much in evidence two mornings ago when I spent some time with a Long-tailed Weasel.\u00a0 Apologies for the image quality of the first three shots.\u00a0 In an attempt to mitigate some of the effects of the fog I had to do some fairly heavy-handed processing and it shows.<\/p>\n
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\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<\/strong><\/p>\n This time of year of course the weasel was in its white winter coat –\u00a0they’re pure white except for their pitch black eyes and the black-tipped tail.\u00a0 Based on its size I’d guess that this was a (larger) male.\u00a0 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 mice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\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<\/strong><\/p>\n Almost certainly the burrow entrance you see at lower left belongs to a vole (who may be inside trembling in fear…).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\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<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0The fog often made it difficult to get a sharp focus lock on him and this shot is soft but I included it because I caught him as he was licking his nose with his tongue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\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<\/strong><\/p>\n To the uninitiated it’s difficult to believe that this critter is also a Long-tailed Weasel.\u00a0 I photographed this one on August 28 of this year within about 100 yards of where I found the white one, above (perhaps they’re the same\u00a0weasel?).\u00a0 In colder latitudes weasels undergo a seasonal color change for obvious camouflage reasons.\u00a0 Southern weasels do not change color.<\/p>\n We know that the color change is genetically controlled rather than triggered by temperature change because\u00a0when southern weasels are transplanted to the snowy north they still do not turn white in winter.\u00a0 And\u00a0when northern weasels are moved to a\u00a0location in the warm south they still turn white in winter.<\/p>\n The trigger for the genetically controlled transformation is length of day\u00a0so\u00a0when it’s unseasonably warm in winter\u00a0(as it has been around here lately)\u00a0white weasels stand out like a sore thumb when there’s no snow.\u00a0 That makes them unusually vulnerable to predators (and to\u00a0being spotted by photographers like me).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark 2, Canon<\/em> 100-400 @400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this weasel on a badger mound on Antelope Island this past May.\u00a0 This view gives a good look at that long, lithe body that is designed to go after small rodents in confined spaces.\u00a0 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 those markings.<\/p>\n The only part of their\u00a0pelage that doesn’t turn white in winter is their black-tipped tail.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 However, if the stuffed weasel did have a black-tipped tail the hawks often hesitated and then\u00a0attacked the tail.\u00a0 That would give the fierce little weasel a fighting chance, perhaps enough of a chance to have that black-tipped tail selected for over many generations of evolution.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Farmington is in a sort of wrapped bowl of the Wasatch Mountains which traps clouds – the bane of bird photographers. Much the same thing happens to morning fog, especially during winter. Collectively I call the phenomenon the “Farmington Curse” and that curse, in the form of fog, was much in evidence two mornings ago when I spent some time with a Long-tailed Weasel. <\/p>\n![\"long-tailed](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/long-tailed-weasel-2692-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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