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Sthenictis sp. (American Museum of Natural History). Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under 20 cm (8 in) in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) and sea otters can exceed 45 kg (99 lb) in weight.
References to the beaver's skills are reflected in everyday language. The English verb "to beaver" means working with great effort and being "as busy as a beaver"; a "beaver intellect" refers to a way of thinking that is slow and honest. Though it typically has a wholesome image, the beaver's name has been used as a sexual term for the human vulva.
Mustelidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, which includes weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks, and wolverines, and many other extant and extinct genera. A member of this family is called a mustelid; Mustelidae is the largest family in Carnivora, and its extant species are divided into eight subfamilies .
In Canada and the United States, the North American beaver is often referred to simply as "beaver", although this can cause some confusion because another distantly related rodent, Aplodontia rufa, is often called the "mountain beaver". Other vernacular names, including American beaver [23] and Canadian beaver, [29] distinguish this species ...
Otters have also been hunted using dogs, especially the otterhound. [27] From 1958 to 1963, the 11 otter hunts in England and Wales killed 1,065 otters between them. In such hunts, the hunters notched their poles after every kill. The prized trophy that hunters would take from the otters was the baculum, which would be worn as a tie-pin. [28]
Otter fur is about an inch long, erect, and thick. It is durable, ranking with mink fur, and is used chiefly for trimming garments. [4] Otter fur is typically used in men's fashion as it has a dark brown, rugged look. River otters are currently the most common species currently used in the fur trade after the sea otter was declared endangered. [36]
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The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that lives only on the North American continent throughout most of Canada, along the coasts of the United States and its inland waterways. An adult North American river otter can weigh between 5.0 and 14 kg (11.0 ...