| Characteristics of Family Mustelidae | - Anal scent glands
- Short legged; long slender bodies and long tails
- 5 toes on each foot, generally non-retractile claws
- Skull cranium elongate and flattened; rostrum short
- Well developed canine and carnassial teeth
- Incisors poorly developed; upper molar is rotated 90
- Delayed implantation |
| Wolverine scientific name | Gulo gulo |
| Wolverine physical characteristics | -Largest mustelid, males up to 20 kg
-Short, stout muscular body
-Broad, flat head with short snout, small rounded ears
-Bear-like paws with 5 partly retractile claws
-Member of the X-men
- Short and bushy tail
- Long brown fur, 2 paler lateral stripes running from shoulders to rump – forms a dark saddle on the back
- clumsy gallop |
| Wolverine habitat | • remote, mountainous wilderness areas; avoid contact with humans
• Subalpine habitats important for denning |
| Wolverine food and feeding | - Omnivorous - roots, berries, fish, ground squirrels, hares, and ungulates
- Opportunistic scavengers |
| Wolverine reproduction | • Breeding season - April to Sept
• 1-3 kits are born the following March
• females do not breed every year
• Reproductive success tied to nutrition |
| American badger scientific name | Taxidea taxus jeffersonii |
| Badger physical characteristics | • Flattened, stout body; short legs and rounded ears
• Triangular skull with flattened cranium
• Long body fur, mainly yellowish to gray in colour
• Hair on sides forms a “fringe”
• Distinctive striping pattern on face |
| Badger behaviour | -Solitary, mainly nocturnal, burrowing
-Dig burrows in pursuit of food and as den
-Facultative hibernators from Nov. to April (depends on winter conditions) |
| Badger habitat? Diet? Management? | Prefer open grassland areas
Small mammals
No hunting or trapping - recovery efforts underway |
| Fisher scientific name | Pekania pennanti |
| Fisher habitat | -Prefer mixed forests edges and riparian areas
-Resting and maternal denning sites in large dead trees |
| Fisher diet | -porcupine, snowshoe hare, squirrels, mice, voles, shrews, birds and carrion
- Important in regulating porcupine #s |
| Fisher management | • Class 2 furbearer (i.e., moves between traplines)
• Trapping season is Nov 1 – Feb 15
• CR in an open season, and CI if in a closed season or area |
| American and pacific marten scientific names | Martes americana
Martes caurina |
| Marten physical characteristics | • Similar to fisher, but smaller (<75 cm in length)
• Bigger ears, bushy tail; brown fir, usually with yellow or orange throat patch
• Head may be paler than rest of body
• 38 teeth; DF same as fisher |
| Marten habitat, diet, and hunting | • Found throughout BC, prefer old growth forests
• Voles are main prey species on the ground
• Hunt in trees (arboreal) with squirrels as main prey |
| Mink scientific name | Neovison vison |
| Mink physical characteristics and diet | -Dark brown with white chin, white throat/belly markings
-Small ears and eyes, less bushy tail than marten
-Semi-aquatic (webbed toes)
-Coastal feed mainly on shellfish, interior on freshwater fish |
| Ermine scientific name | Mustela erminea |
| Ermine physical characteristics | • Small in size (<35 cm)
• Short tail (4-11 cm) with black tip
• Brown with light belly in summer, white feet
• White coat in winter |
| Long-tailed Weasel scientific name | Mustela frenata |
| Long-tailed weasel characteristics | -Similar to ermine but larger with longer black-tipped tail
-Feet are brown in summer
-34 teeth, DF same as mink
-Found in south and central BC |
| Least weasel scientific name | Mustela nivalis |
| Least weasel characteristics | -Smallest carnivore in BC (total length < 20 cm)
-Short tail (< 4 cm) with no black tip
-34 teeth, DF same as mink
-Sparse distribution in north and central BC |
| Which tail belongs to which weasel? | a. Least weasel
b. Short tailed weasel
c. Long tailed weasel |
| River Otter scientific name | Lontra canadensis |
| River Otter characteristics | • Dark brown, streamlined body; lighter in face
• Long tapered tail, webbed feet
• Associated with rivers and lakes throughout BC, also very common on coast |
| River Otter behaviour | • Feed on fish, crustaceans, frogs, turtles, water snakes and other aquatic mammals such as juvenile muskrats and beavers
• Playful, especially after snowfalls and near muddy river banks where they create river otter slides
• Establish latrines on land |
| Sea Otter scientific name | Enhydra lutris |
| Sea Otter characteristics | • Has paddle-shaped hind feet and moves awkwardly on land
• Tail is blunt and thicker than that of river otters
• Fur is extremely dense and dark brown with a light coloured face |
| Sea Otter behaviour | • Exclusively marine, unlike river otter that is tied to land
• Feed on marine invertebrates (e.g., sea urchins) and often float on their backs while feeding |
