Weasel in Ecuadorean Andes
In July of 2024 I drove up to the antenna fields on the Papallacta Pass in the Andes of Ecuador. On the way down, at an altitude of about 13000 feet (4000 meters) I stopped the car as a rabbit (Andean Tapeti) came tearing over a little ridge, followed closely by a weasel. At the time, I thought the weasel was actually a Mink- it was very dark and I could see a contrasting white chin. Upon examining my photos, I realized it was actually weasel, showing a more extensive white belly. My mind wanted to go in the direction of mega rare Colombian. However, reality tells me that this must be a Long-tailed Weasel, and I thought I’d just post it here to make sure that the experts agree! From the few records of the Colombian, it seems that the elevation of this animal was beyond what would be expected for Colombian, and the photos don’t appear to show show the dark throat patch, although the angle here is less than ideal.
The photos are quite bad, and I’ll blame that on the weather conditions. It was barely 40 degrees F (4°C), blowing at 50 mph plus with driving rain and mist most of the day. I had two target species that day, Andean Bear and a very nice bird whose details I’ll omit to avoid inducing a bout of narcolepsy amongst you all.
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