CONTEMPLATING YOUR WEASEL

The other day during lunch I was reading something on Wikipedia, when I noticed a clickable link that looked fascinating.
You may have noticed from previous entries here that I have an affection for small animals, right?
So you will readily understand why a link entitled 香港哺乳動物 automatically pulled me in.

[香港哺乳動物 Heung Kong po-yu dung-mat: "Fragrant Harbour Nipple-feeding critters"; mammals of Hong Kong.]

Okay then. Nipple feeding. I too am in origin a nipple-feeder. And of course, so are you - assuming that you aren't some creepy space-alien reading this blog on a tentacle-held portable module.
Nipples.  Nice.

Nipple-feeding. It's instinctive.
It explains our affinity for breasts, probably also why I like small animals.

The article first informed me that there's a large number of different kinds of bats in Hong Kong.

[翼手目 yik sau muk: 'wingspan-handed category':  棕果蝠 (jung gwo fuk: palm fruitbat),  短吻果蝠 (duen man gwo fuk: short-snouted fruitbat),  褐山蝠 (hot saan fuk: grey hill bat),  東亞家蝠 (dung ngaa gaa fuk: East-Asian family bat),  灰伏翼 (fui fuk fuk: ashy crouching bat),  扁顱蝠 (pin lo fuk: flat skull bat),  褐扁顱蝠 (grey tablet bat),  中黃蝠 (jung wong fuk: central yellow bat),  長翼蝠 (cheung yik fuk: long winged bat),  大長翼蝠（daai cheung yik fuk: greater long winged bat),  南長翼蝠（naam cheung yik fuk: southern long winged bat),  中華鼠耳蝠 (jung wa syu yi fuk: the Chinese mouse-eared bat),  大足鼠耳蝠 (daai juk syu yi fuk: the big foot mouse-eared bat),  毛腿鼠耳蝠 (mou teui syu yi fuk: the furry-thighed mouse-eared bat),  霍氏鼠耳蝠 (fok si syu yi fuk: Horsefield's mouse-eared bat),  喜山鼠耳蝠 (hei saan syu yi fuk: happy mountain mouse-eared bat),  水鼠耳蝠 (sui syu yi fuk: water mouse-eared bat),  小蹄蝠 (siu tai fuk: lesser horseshoe-nosed bat),  大蹄蝠 (daai tai fuk: greater horseshoe-nosed bat),  小菊頭蝠 (siu kuk tau fuk: little chrysanthemum-headed bat),  中菊頭蝠 (jung kuk tau fuk: medium chrysanthemum-headed bat),  魯氏菊頭蝠 (lo si kuk tau fuk: Roux's horseshoe-nosed bat),  黑鬚墓蝠 (hak so mou fuk: dark-whiskered tomb bat),  皺唇犬吻蝠 (jau seun huen man fuk: the wrinkle-lipped dog-snout bat).]

I didn't know there were that many bats there. Far more than we have.
Naturally I feel jealous. Why should they have so many bats?
But we're semi-arid, whereas they are warm and wet.
Warm and wet is very important.
Bats think so too.

Among their other animals are the Andaman rat (印支林鼠 yan-ji-lam syu), the bandicoot (大板齒鼠 daai paan chi syu: 'great plank-toothed rat'), and the South-East Asian porcupine (馬來豪豬 ma-lai hou chyu: 'Malaysian hero pig').


黃腹鼬

But what really caught my eye was the yellow-bellied weasel (黃腹鼬 wong fuk yau).

It's a weasel with soft creamy yellow stomach fur, distant relative of the badger and the otter. Weasels have been horribly maligned in Wind In The Willows.
They're actually extremely likeable creatures.
Cute, fierce, wriggly, and playful.


Yes yes, granted that they're carnivores. Which means that many other excruciatingly cute beasties are their natural prey. Including peace-loving vegetarians and adorable baby chicks. But if it weren't for weasels - joyful, warm, wriggly meat eaters - we'd be awash with desperate bunny rabbits, angry little birdies, mice, rats, chipmunks, and chihuahuas.
Our planet would be overwhelmed.
Nobody likes chihuahuas.
Chihuahuas=icky.

Wouldn't you rather have a weasel?


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