What a Weasel

While Whistler is best known for its resident population of black bears, WkHUH DUH qXLWH D IHZ RWkHU LQWHUHVWLQJ DQLPDOV LQkDELWLQJ RXU VORSHV, VXFk DV weasels. Of the three species of weasels found in British Columbia, the most common is the least weasel (previously known as short-tailed, and commonly known as an ermine). These weasels moult seasonally, turning from a brown and grey coat with a white belly in the summer, to an almost totally white coat (save for the black eyes, nose and tip of the tail) during the winter. Sensitivity to the changing lengths of days and nights, a trait of certain plants and animals known as “photoperiodism,” is what triggers weasels to moult.

On clear winter days, you may be lucky enough to spot one of these wellcamouflaged weasels darting across a snowcat track on the mountain. If you do, you’ll understand why this little Mustelid carnivore (not a rodent, though sometimes mistakenly referred to as) can make even the toughest bouncer in the Village use the term “cute.” If you’re in town for a ski race, you’ll likely see some slightly larger “weasels” scurrying around in the snow—these, not to be mistaken for the least variety, are, of course, the Whistler Weasel Workers, Whistler Blackcomb’s valued volunteer race course safety and maintenance team.