The term Mustelid refers to a diverse family of carnivorous mammals. Classifications vary, but upwards of 63 species, of which you can currently find 7 in the U.K.
Eurasian Badger
The European Badger (Meles meles) is the largest member of the Mustelid family in the U.K. and arguably the most iconic. They have grey fur with black and white stripes on their faces and short tails. They love to eat earthworms and can eat hundreds during a nighttime hunt for food. They also eat hedgehogs opportunistically, and it is this that has given them a bad reputation with some people. They are social creatures and live in sets in which they burrow underground. If a set is undisturbed, several families can inhabit a single area.
For more information on these wonderful animals, check out our Wildlife In Focus guide on the Eurasian Badger.
Weasel
From the largest of the Mustelids to the smallest, the Weasel (Mustela nivalis) is also the UK’s smallest Carnivore with a body length of only around 20cm, barely larger than some of the animals they prey on. Weasels are tawny brown, with a pale belly and short tails. They can be easily mistaken for Stoats as they are a similar appearance. Weasels are also quite elusive animals to see in the wild, partly due to their size but also due to their being shy. Their favorite food is small rodents, though they will tackle larger prey. They live in woods and hedgerows.
Eurasian Otter
The Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) is rapidly becoming another U.K. iconic species with numbers growing year on year after legal protection was put in place to save them from the risk of extinction during the 1980s. Otters are semi-aquatic; living on the land but hunting for food in water. Eurasian Otters are a good indicator of a healthy aquatic environment, as they need clean water to thrive.
Whilst the numbers of otters are increasing, they can be elusive to spot. They will actively avoid human prying eyes, in particular where they may be persecuted. Consequently, it can be notoriously difficult to spot them in natural habitats such as the Scottish Lochs and rivers. However, it’s easier to spot otters in urban waterways; where assumedly the actions of individuals who would deliberately harm otters are also more easily seen.
Otters are dark brown but can appear almost black when seen in the water. They have long tails, slim bodies, webbed feet, and short legs.
If you want to learn more about these animals, then check out our Wildlife In Focus Guide to The Eurasian Otter.
Pine Marten
The Pine Marten (Martes martes) is another elusive animal to spot in the wild, although, in some parts of Scotland, they can occasionally be seen in broad daylight visiting gardens to raid nuts from bird feeders. They have dark-brown hair with a very distinctive yellow or white throat patch. They are about the size of a small domestic cat and sport a long bushy tail. That said, Pine Martens are predominantly nocturnal, hunting a night, and resting during the day. They have an acute vision as well as a sense of smell, which enables them to find and hunt prey. A carnivorous animal, they favor small mammals such as mice, rabbits, voles, etc. They will also eat birds as well as amphibians.
If you want to learn more about these animals, then check out our Wildlife In Focus Guide to The Pine Marten.
Stoat
The Stoat (Mustela erminea) looks like a weasel at first glance, however, they are noticeably larger up to 30cm. They also sport longer tails with a flash of almost black at the tip. Youngsters sometimes don’t get the black tip to their tail until older, which is another factor making it difficult to distinguish from a Weasel. Their bodies are tawny brown, with a pale belly. They prefer to live on open land, hunting during the day. They are capable hunters and will tackle prey significantly larger than themselves. In upland areas, their fur can turn white during the winter.
European Polecat
The European Polecat (Mustela putorius) is the ancestor of the domesticated ferret. Their appearance is different from Weasels and Stoats in that they are more powerfully built with a shorter stance, although they are larger than a stoat with a length of up to 50cm. They have dark brown fur and sport a dark band across their eyes. Polecats have webbed rear feet and partially retractable claws. They feed on reptiles, amphibians, and birds.
American Mink
Mink (Mustela vison) are often mistaken for an otter since they both inhabit similar semi-aquatic habitats and have a similar lifestyle. However, unlike the other mustelid relatives in this list, mink are a non-native and highly invasive species in Europe. Typically dark brown or even almost black in color, but can be found with lighter brown coloring.
Mink are efficient hunters and are equally at home hunting in trees, on the land, and in the water. They hunt and eat birds’ eggs as well as the birds themselves. Waders and river birds such as goldeneye, and moorhen are particularly vulnerable, as well as inland birds such as curlew, lapwing, and the corncrake. Even nesting seabird colonies such as terns are targets for the mink. As well as birds, they hunt and kill small mammals, and like their cousin, the otter, as adept swimmers, can even tackle fish, shellfish, amphibians, and crustaceans.
If you want to learn more about these animals, then check out our Wildlife In Focus Guide to The American Mink
Conservation & Human Impact
Unfortunately, many of the members of this group are labeled as pests. Despite the environmental problems we now all face with the loss of natural habitat due to human expansion; many people don’t like the idea of wildlife cohabiting on their doorsteps.
This is particularly true of those that keep poultry and fish. Sadly, it doesn’t cross people’s minds that if they keep livestock, then the obligation is on them to ensure that their livestock has a safe environment to live in and that all animals have just as much right to occupy the environment as we do.
So often we see fishermen trying to use social media as some sort of soap-box to spread their claims that Mustelids and other predators are the reason for the lack of fish in our waterways. The fact that humans blocked waterways, contaminated water with sewage and chemicals, and introduced disease into fish by over-farming in poor environments; never forms part of their flimsy argument that wildlife should be culled.
The hunting/shooting leisure industry is one of the worst culprits, with continual claims that they should be allowed to hunt and kill animals (many of which are legally protected) that predate on their livestock. At the time of writing lawyers representing some of these groups even try to bend rules in place to protect minority communities of people claiming that they themselves are a minority community (assumedly a minority community of rich land-owners) and should be granted rights to flout the laws of the land.
Badgers, Polecats, Pine Martens, and Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which means that it is an offense to disturb them.
