(adventurous music)
- (gasps) I'm Coyote Peterson
and living underneath this crate
is one of the most vicious creatures in the animal kingdom,
and I'm gonna let it out.
Are you ready?
One, two. (grunts)
There you are, come over here.
(frantic music)
(growling)
The wilds of Alaska are home to one of the most ferocious
mammals on the planet, a fearless predator armed
with the bone-crushing bite force, lightning speed,
and the ability to take down prey several times
its own size.
I know what you were thinking, it must be a grizzly bear
or maybe a wolverine.
But what if I told you the maximum size of this animal
is only 15 inches long making it one of the smallest members
of its family, the mustelas.
Today we are in Haines, Alaska at Steve Kroschel's
wildlife sanctuary where we will be getting up close
with one of these little mammals who's been raised
in captivity.
This stealthy hunter is related to badgers, pine martens,
mink, and even wolverines.
Have you guessed who we are talking about?
If not, get ready to meet the short-tailed weasel.
Very slowly.
- [Cameraman] Where is it?
- Hold on, I'm gonna lift off this rock.
I gotta keep it in there with a rock,
that's how strong they are.
- [Cameraman] Are you nervous doing that?
- [Coyote] Yeah, he's gonna lunge out of the straw
and maul me.
- [Camerman] Oh, I see it.
It's right over there in the corner by the white thing.
- [Coyote] Let me see.
- [Cameraman] He's looking right there.
- There you are, come over here.
(chirps)
Oh, did you hear that chirp?
Okay, let me get it out, and maybe if we just sit back
for a second.
One thing you don't do is try to force a member
of the weasel family to do something that it doesn't
want to do.
Wait a minute, I hear some rustling in there.
Here we go, here we go.
It's about to spring out.
There it is.
Oh, look at that.
It's a weasel.
Now don't let this cuteness fool you.
This is one voracious predator.
I'm trying to stay still right now.
I don't want to just twitch my fingers around
because if I do, it may think that that's something
to latch onto.
This little tiny animal that's jumping around in here
has a bite strength that is 150 pounds per square inch.
To give you some perspective, a human's bite force
is only 85 pounds, and I think it's underneath me right now.
Okay, you getting a little more comfortable with me?
It's behind me, I'm a little nervous,
tiny little sharp teeth.
And you'll notice that the tip of the tail is dark
in coloration, almost black.
And the tip of the tail will stay that color all year long
even when the coat is white.
You're so cute you would fit perfectly in my pocket.
You know where that weasel would go best?
Right, ooh, he's scratching my back.
In an instance like this, it is all about just letting
the animal acclimate to me.
I don't want to try to force an encounter.
If I were to grab that weasel right now
it would rear around and bite me with those sharp
little needle-like teeth.
It's right behind you, Mark.
Don't move, don't move.
Just let it come back this way.
I'm keeping my hand low to the ground.
It's underneath you.
It's totally cool, don't worry about it.
Oh, there, right there, right there, okay.
This little creature is like the hummingbird of mammals.
Its heart is going at 800 beats a minute,
at a resting pace, 300 beats a minute.
That is crazy.
So this little thing is running around,
it's heart's going bababababababa.
Imagine that, 800 beats in a single minute.
Now in the wild these weasels are incredible predators
and what they will do is they will find the burrow
of a mouse or a vole.
It will go in there.
It will find whether it's an adult or it's babies
and it will just eat everything that it comes across,
then it will take over the burrow
and turn that into their home.
I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't think there's
any chance of me actually holding onto this weasel
and keeping it still for the cameras.
I do want to get you guys some really cute shots
of this animal.
It's absolutely adorable, so I brought with me
a GoPro on a gimbal, and I think,
if I follow the weasel around,
I can get you guys some great shots.
Are you ready?
(imitates chirping)
I'm trying to follow the weasel close.
I just want it to come up on these rocks here.
It's almost like I can't move the camera fast enough
to get it in frame.
- [Mark] It's up under your leg.
There it is, it's coming out, it's on your shoe.
- [Coyote] I'm loosening up, oh boy.
Where is that weasel going?
You never know which hole it's going to pop out of.
Oh, there we go.
(imitates chirping)
Oh, it's up on the grate, there it goes.
That's so fast it's like a little ninja.
Awesome.
(imitates chirping)
Oh, nice.
- [Mark] Did you get it?
- Oh, yeah, it's probably the best shot
that I'm gonna get today.
Oh, it is sweltering in here.
But how fun was that, spending the afternoon
playing pop goes the weasel with a weasel.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Oh, there he goes.
Okay, one more shot.
If you thought this encounter with a member
of the weasel family was exciting, go back and watch
the time I climbed up into a tree to hang out
with a pine marten.
And don't forget, subscribe so you can join me
and the crew on our next big adventure.
(howling) (chirping)