Daily Nature Fix: What a Friendly Little Weasel! (Original Photos)

Hi steemit world.  Tonight's daily nature fix is about a cool little dude I met while hiking in Glacier National Park.  This was a least weasel and he was quite a charmer!

First off, I want to apologize that some of the photos are a bit out of focus.  Two factors came into play: 1) this little guy was QUICK! He was all over the place. And 2) I'm a guy who takes pictures, NOT a photographer! lol  Anyway, we were on the backswing of a 10 mile hike to Iceberg Lake (future DNF post!) when we came upon a big pile of sticks on each side of the trail.  We blew by them on our way to the lake, but coming back from it, Kylene spotted some movement.  We got closer to investigate and out popped a tiny little head! We held pretty still, but continued to talk and snap photos and to our surprise, the small creature came out even further.  It was a weasel! A least weasel, to be precise.  Suddenly, he jetted back down into the stick pile and we thought we had seen the last of him.  But as we were about to continue on, he scampered back out carrying something pretty large in his mouth.  I leaned in for a closer look and saw it was a freshly taken ground squirrel!

^^^The evening's dinner, I presume.

      Thats when things got really funny.  I took a photo or two of this little fella and his trophy catch, which was just about as big as him btw... when he suddenly started coming towards us! Not in a scary way, just kind of bouncing with that giant carcass in his mouth.  When he stopped about 5 feet from us, dropped the squirrel and just looked up at Kylene and I with his head slightly cocked.  It was adorable but I didn't get any pics of it unfortunately.  Then he picked it up again and took another one or two leaps closer to us and dropped it again! AND looked at us again!  I have no idea what he was doing! It really did seem like he was offering it to us.  I like to think he was inviting us to have a dinner party with him, but in reality I thought it might be some kind of defense mechanism?  Like "hey, eat this and not me" maybe?  Inthralled, yet pretty confused, we said things to the tiny marmot like "Oh! Thank you, buddy! That looks delicious!".  He picked it up and put it down a few more times, then picked it up one last time and bolted across the trail.

^^^Heading across town with his chow.

    My tiny friend here had some pretty sweet digs, I must say.  He was in and out of that first pile of sticks, weaving his way between a bunch of different openings, and now he went across the trail to an even bigger pile!  He went deep inside it for a few moments and then popped his head out one last time, just long enough for me to snap this last picture of him.

^^^Farewell, old friend!

     He then went back inside that stick pile and didn't emerge again.  We waited a few minutes and continued out.  The entire hike was awesome that day, probably one of the best hikes of my life, but this weasel encounter was certainly a great capper to it.   I hope he had quite a feast that night and that he's still out there running around Glacier today.  

Thanks for reading, folks.  I post a daily nature fix blog every day, so be sure to follow and never miss one!

 

***Daily Nature Fix is a daily blog showcasing the natural world.  It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***