Natural Notes: Mustelids of Cook County, Illinois
This blog post consists of my notes from a lecture about Mustelids of Cook County, which was presented by Chris Anchor, wildlife biologist with the Forest Preserves of Cook County. The presentation took place at Sand Ridge Nature Center in South Holland, Illinois on February 16, 2018 and was presented to an audience that consisted mostly of naturalists and resource management specialists from local Forest Preserves and affiliated non-for-profit organizations. Mustelids, or weasels, include weasels, otters, and mink, among others. At one point, skunks were classified as members of the weasel family, but are now considered their own unique group of mammals. The Forest Preserves of Cook County has been actively tracking and monitoring weasels and other fur bearers for many years now. Weasels are most often tracked using radio-transmitters. All native weasels are voracious predators and will often hunt down more than their fair share of food, caching away any extra. Weasels are