Ingles (Mammals of the Pacific States) is probably the best field guide,
even though (I'm told) Ingles used mostly California specimens for the
keys. Here in WA, they don't always look the same. Dick Johnson has
been working on a WA mammal monograph for about 20 years, and may finish one
of these days.

One the west side of the state, both Long-tailed Weasels (_Mustela frenata_)
and Ermines (_Mustela erminea_) are likely. L-t Weasels tend to be in
more open areas, and Ermines tend to be in closed forest, but they are
pretty mobile animals. It would be difficult to distiguish the two with
a 30 second glimpse on a trail.

Kelly

Kelly Cassidy -- Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Box 357980, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195
kelly at u.washington.edu --- 206-685-4195 --- 206-368-8076

On Fri, 13 Jun 1997 ravenn at premier1.net wrote:

> Thank you Janet,
>
> When I went to work today I looked up my little mammal in several of the
> field guides and yes it was definitely not a mink but a weasel. He was
> not dark brown but a soft brown on his back and a lighter color
> underneath. His tail had a blacktip and he was approximately 10 inche
> long. Is the Long-tailed the most common around here? I could use a
> good mammal field guide. Does anyone prefer one over any others?
>
> Yvonne Bombardier
> Everett, Wa
> ravenn at premier1.net
>
>
> > Hi Yvonne:
> >
> > The mustelid you saw may have been a long-tailed weasel. I saw one
> > crossing the Spencer Island bridge from Spencer to Smith Dike. It
> > seemed pretty tame to me, just stopping now and then to look at us as it
> > crossed the bridge. I think that was one of the best looks I have had
> > of weasels. Mink have a dark, rich brown coat compared to the weasel
> > which is lighter and has a white or light underside. Mink are also
> > quite a bit larger - about the length of a cat.
> >
> > Janet Carroll
> >
>