It's hard to condensate the essence of weaselitude. Weasels are as lithe and graceful as the most beautiful young girl, yet they are also fierce and tenacious predators able to take down animals twice their size with admirable skill. They are the lightning speeding through the fields; creatures so perfect one would expect them not to touch the ground as they walk.

WEASEL MEANS PERFECTION AND VICE VERSA.

The dictionary is trying to persuade me that some evasive, sly persons can be given the same name as these amazing animals, because Weasels are said to be sneaky. This is a lie; while it's true that Weasels are clever, they use their intelligence to hunt prey as all predators do.

It must however be noted that one of the ways in which Weasels are special is because they are the smallest living carnivores. To be precise, this record is held by the Least Weasel, whose maximum length from head to tail does not exceed 25cm - about the size of a man's span. Consider that Weasels prey upon rats and rabbits, which are often much larger than them. This is also because their energy needs are so high they need to eat the equivalent of half their body weight every day to avoid starvation, and that they often eat part of the prey and stockpile the rest for later. Other than the aforementioned, Weasels also eat mice, shrews, squirrels, lizards, frogs, eggs and nestlings.

SEVENTEEN KINDS OF WEASELS

Weasels belong to the genus Mustela, which counts seventeen species. Thirteen of these have "weasel" in their common name; the remaining are two species of polecats, the stoat and the european mink. They are found everywhere in the world except for Australia, Antarctica and Pacific islands.

ANIMALS OF LEGEND

There is plenty of references to Weasels to be found through history. For example, we know that they've always been close to man; skeletons of Weasels have been found buried together with people who lived about 8000 years ago and it is a known fact that Weasels were often kept as pets by the ancient Greeks and Romans as they kept the house free from mice. These civilizations left us many interesting tales and myths about Weasels, among which the long-lasting belief that they conceived through the mouth and gave birth through their ear.

In the Middle Ages, the Weasel was thought to have healing properties and was often associated with witchcraft; its pugnacious nature led to the belief that it was the only creature able to kill the mythical basilisk, although such a fight would have also resulted in the Weasel's death. Killing a Weasel was considered unlucky; its spit was also thought to be poisonous.

The Native Americans held the Weasel in high regard and associated it with the power of keen observation; having this animal as one's own spirit guide unlocked a deeper understanding of the hidden motives behind everything and the ability to avoid problems through the use of wit.

Weasels also appear in Japanese folklore in the form of the Kamaitachi, a demon whose name means literally "sickle weasel"; associated with the chilling mountain wind, it took the appearance of a trio of Weasels wielding long claws which were said to be the cause of the deep wounds left by a gust of mountain wind.

AND ALL OF THIS BECAUSE?

Because I want everyone to realize that Weasels are awesome. And because this is a fanlisting, that's to say a joinable list of lovers of a certain subject. Here, I said it. Signing up is just a way like another to let the internets know that you agree that Weasels rule, so don't run away, it won't cost you anything but five minutes of your life. If you want to join, the forms are down here.