On July 1, 1917, in Clay County, Nebraska, a nest with four young was
found (Swenk, 1926:321). On July 29, 1939, an adult and five young were
plowed out of the ground in Allegan County, Michigan; one of the two
young males weighed 40.5 grams two days after capture (Allen,
1940:459-460). On August 12, 1932, ten young with the mother, were
found in Roseau County, Minnesota (Swanson and Fryklund, 1935:125).
September appears to have been the month of birth of a specimen, no.
8472 in the Carnegie Museum, taken on November 24 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. In October, a young least weasel is recorded from
Pennsylvania (Winecoff, 1930:313). Early December was the time of birth
of a specimen, approximately 10 weeks old, no. 88077, University of
Michigan, taken on February 21 in Allegan County. On December 25, 1927,
in Washington County, Pennsylvania, "five full-sized, though
young . . . animals were caught under the same pile of corn fodder"
(Sutton, 1929:253). The first week of January seems to have been the
time of birth of a juvenile, no. 88080, University of Michigan, taken
in Livingston County, Michigan, on March 27, 1943, since the specimen
is approximately seven weeks old. On January 15, 1929, in Washington
County, Pennsylvania, four young with the eyes yet unopened were
obtained from a nest (Sutton, 1929:254). On January 25, 1928, young,
the eyes of which may not yet have been open, were taken from a den in
Washington County, Pennsylvania, by Winecoff (1930:313), who records
other young having been taken in the same month as well as in February.
On March 10, a female from North Portal, Saskatchewan, gave birth to
four young (Dunk, 1946:392). On April 18, 1916, four young, half grown,
were taken in Nebraska (Swenk, 1926:317). On April 2, 1929, three young
were found in Roseau County, Minnesota, according to Swanson and
Fryklund (1935:125) who remark that: "The Pennsylvania and Minnesota
records show that least weasels may be born any time from July to early
February in the northern states." Now, with all of the above records
available, it turns out that November, May and June are the only months
in which young least weasels have not been reported. Of course some of
the young, for which the ages were not specified, were born in
preceding months. Even so, the data now available suggests that, in the
United States, young least weasels may be born in every month of the
year. The number per litter is 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, and 10, yielding an
average of 5.
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