LMAC 66: A Collage, and a Brief Look at the Weasel

avatar
(Edited)

shaka 66 monster gif 3.gif
My peculiar collage for LMAC this week is based on @shaka's lovely winter scene;

Template Photo by @shaka

shaka 66 blog.jpg

I was in the mood to do something irrational, to break rules and norms. It was relaxing to play around with a variety of eccentric ideas, mixing the ordinary with the extraordinary.

If you look at my collage you will see in the upper left hand corner a nimble animal darting to and fro. This critter is a weasel.

The Weasel

Weasel Mustela nivalis British Wildlife Centre4 Keven Law 2.0.jpg

Image credit: Keven Law. Used under a CC 2.0 license.
border grass.jpg

Weasels are in the Mustelid family (members of the Mustela genus). This family includes badgers, wolverines, otters, polecats,and mink--among others. Weasels vary in size and coloration. The smallest weasel is also the smallest carnivore in the world (according to Live Science--although I find this hard to believe.) The 'least weasel' may weigh as little as an ounce.
Least Weasel
Weasel_GIF.GIF
Image credit: SurreyJohn. Picture taken at the British Wildlife Center. Used under CC 4.0 license

border grass.jpg

Even the largest weasels, however, are not very big. According to Animal Diversity Web, the long-tailed weasel may be 1.3 feet long. They may weigh as much as 15.6 ounces, with males being larger than females and the average being much smaller than that.

Long-tailed Weasel

weasel I Am Weasel usfws free.jpg

Image credit: I Am Weasel, USFWS. Copyright free.

Long-tailed weasels that live in the north shed their fur in winter and become snowy white, as illustrated above. This shedding does not occur in southern climes.

Long-tailed Weasel Range

Longtailed Weasel range Chermundy 3.0.jpg

border grass.jpg

Weasels as Hunters

Weasels are nocturnal. When they are awake they spend most of their time hunting, eating and storing food. They dig burrows in the ground, but are also prone to appropriating burrows dug by other animals...including termites.

Their prey consists of small, ground-dwelling animals such as rabbits, squirrels, moles, frogs, birds and bird eggs. The weasel's physique allows it to wriggle its way into small spaces in order to find food. However, the weasel's greatest ally in its hunting exploits is probably its ferocity. It is known to be fearless and will attack prey larger than itself.

Weasel Attacking Quail

weasel attacking quail Popular Science Monthly Volume 5 1899 public.jpg

Image credit: Popular Science Magazine. 1899. Artist unknown. Public domain

border grass.jpg

Lifespan, Reproduction

Mating occurs mostly in spring and summer. Weasels are promiscuous. When food supply is abundant, litters are larger and more frequent--as many as three litters a year with fifteen kits per litter.

Here is a YouTube video of weasel kits in action:


The longest recorded lifespan of a weasel is ten years. However, most kits don't reach adulthood and most weasels don't live longer than one or two years.
border grass.jpg

My Collage

Rather than describing how my collage took shape, I'll share some pictures. These will reveal the long and winding road to the final version.
Skating Animals

shaka 66 full.jpg

Then there was the mouth phase:

shaka 66 ice 5dd.jpg

I made GIFs, and more GIFs. I really liked the beaver on skates, but that wasn't going anywhere. Finally I settled on my rather comical monster emerging from ice.

All the creatures in the collage came from Paint3D. I manipulated them by using the same program. My first GIF featuring the emerging monster had moving trees.

shaka 66 pond tree 22.jpg

That didn't look very interesting. Then I changed the scenery, added snow-covered trees and animals that responded to the monster's movements. It took a bunch of frames for me to get the effect I was looking for. The last challenge was to get the timing right. That still can be improved, I think, but I'm done :))

In addition to Paint 3D I used Paint and Gimp to reconfigure the pictures. I used Gimp to make the GIF

border grass.jpg

Do I have to say I had fun? I think that's obvious. Every week @shaka gives me an opportunity to let my imagination roam. It's an enriching experience I recommend to all. Thanks @shaka.

#LMAC is a welcoming community. One of the best parts about participating is the people. Learn more about #LMAC at @shaka's blog. There's an #LMAC school to help participants achieve technical skills. Amazingly creative and patient @quantumg provides the lessons and answers questions. We even have a Discord Channel:https://discord.gg/6wSVQsZpuN. Check it out and meet the community.

lmac graphic3.jpg

Thank you for reading my blog

fox and squirrel friendsgif.gif

Hive on!



0
0
0.000
25 comments
avatar

Wow, I like the collage, the ant growing bigger, and the rest of the farm animals included. Great work. Good luck friend

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you my friend. I was in a mood. I wanted to do something a little unexpected and surprising. It felt liberating to push the limits on tastefulness.

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words. I hope your attractive collage does well in the final round, friend @dwixer.

0
0
0.000
avatar

You put a lot of work into your collage! But it was worth it to get what you wanted. I love weasels they are such beautiful animals. Best of luck in the contest!👍

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

Thank you very much. Yes, you are right. It had to be what I was looking for, even if nobody else is looking for that in my collage :))

Thank you very much for stopping by, and good luck!

(I love weasels also. I didn't know anything about them. Pretty amazing, and beautiful)

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a great collage A.G. Love the pop-up in the ice hole.😀

I saw a white weasel one time as a child going to the barn to collect eggs. The weasel was there and probably going to steal eggs or maybe even worse. I know they can kill animals bigger than themselves. The weasel took off when he saw me and no one believed me that it was white. Thanks for confirming there are white weasels.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hello @redheadpei
I'm jealous! You've seen a white weasel. I'm glad you got there before it could do harm to your chickens.

Thank you for liking my collage. Not pretty. Maybe weird. But really fun to make as I imagined the different animals reacting.

Thanks for the generous tip, and good luck tonight my friend. I've looked at your collage but have not visited yet. Another beauty!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Greetings A.G. @agmoore ❤️. You are most welcome.

I don’t think my parents knew weasels could be white as no one believed me that it was a weasel.
The memory of seeing it has stuck with me all these years.

Have a wonderful February.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Once again the viewer is delighted with your funny collage.
About the informal part to the weasel I was also pleased, because he belongs to my favorite animals.
Even my favorite Punkband has it in its name. 😎
SCREECHING WEASEL


GOOD LUCK!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Screeching Weasel! Wow, what I learn from @muelli. Led by someone named Ben Weasel. 😆 Fantastic.

I'm so happy I made you laugh. When @muelli is amused by my collage, I am successful.

Thank you for stopping by, for your kind words and for your good wishes. I hope you and your irreverent alter ego have good fortune in the contest.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wow, what I learn from @muelli.

And I am very happy that you could learn from me.
Fantastic. 🤣

0
0
0.000
avatar

hi, I loved

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you very much! That makes me happy :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hello, excellent friend, your collage, it impresses me that weasels are one that hunts other bigger ones like adilla, rabbits and that which looks like a harmless animal, the white color looks very beautiful, good luck in the contest.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you for those kind words. Weasels are fascinating to me (also new!). Such small animals. So ferocious. So beautiful.

Good luck tonight!!

0
0
0.000
avatar

It is like the coral snake they are very small but one bite can kill a person. regards

0
0
0.000
avatar

Dear @agmoore. Great publication. I really enjoy the contrasts. Also from your wise explanations.

The entrance and exit of the elements in the ice hole are amazing.

I congratulate you for the work done in GIMP. I still don't know how to make GIFs (that's a pending task).

Happy day and big hugs!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Dear @marcybetancourt,
Thank you very much for your visit and your kind words. I think I got carried away with making that GIF. It was great fun. We had a storm pending here, lots of snow and wind. The collage was a distraction. My concern was I would lose power and then not be able to post. Silly, silly lady, am I not?

I see you are in the running in the contest. So glad your collage made it to the finals. A worthy entry indeed.

Good luck and warm regards,
AG

0
0
0.000
avatar

Dear @agmoore, your collage is so much fun. I love animals, domestic and wild, flying and crawling, all of them! And in your collage they all move and I have spent a good time following their wanderings.
I didn't know weasels were so beautiful!
I really, really liked your alien of the deep.
This is an amazing post: funny, knowledgeable and informative.
Thank you!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Dear @adncabrera,
I'm so glad you had fun with my silly collage. I spent a lifetime thinking I couldn't 'do' art--though always I tried. Here, in LMAC, I find a welcome for my art efforts, no matter how rudimentary. It's a new freedom, a new hobby. Wonderful that I can amuse others through my crude skills (I miss @quantumg this round...hope he is alright).
Thank you for stopping by and appreciating my silliness. And yes, the weasel is beautiful. I never realized that before.

Warm regards,
AG

0
0
0.000
avatar

You know what? The same thing has happened to me with literature. I've spent most of my life believing that I'm not a serious writer, because I write fantasy, horror, science fiction and police stories... I realize it so late that I don't give a damn.
Fortunately I'm not a soccer player or a dancer and at fifty I can still do what I like. The same thing has happened to me with graphic arts, and perhaps because I don't consider myself a serious artist, I didn't study any more. I am grateful for the opportunity that @shaka gave me to enter the world of collage and to @quantumg. I've missed him too.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I don't give a damn

:))

If not now, when? That's what I say. Be yourself. Create.

0
0
0.000