When Stacy Studebaker of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service took this little guy’s (or gal’s) picture, he was living on Kodiak Island in Alaska. This furry creature is one of the six land mammals that are native to Kodiak Island, which is the largest of Alaska’s 2,000 islands.
This little fellow is absolutely adorable, in my estimation. He is an ermine or a short-tailed weasel or a stoat or Bonaparte’s weasel—take your pick. And if he had lived long ago in Greece, you would call him a Royal Armenian Rat.
God created these little fellows with just what they need to survive in the winter. Ermine who live in northern latitudes turn bright white in the winter, except for the very tips of their tails. The tips of their tails stay black all year. Ermine live for four to six years, so they get to go through that change of outerwear four to six times.
Ermine. Courtesy Stacy Studebaker, USFWS.
Here are two more Alaska animals that change color in the winter. Snowshoe hares, like this one, are white in the winter and reddish brown in the summer.
Snowshoe hare in Denali National Park. Photo courtesy National Park Service.
Tamara Payton of the USFWS found this rock ptarmigan on Kodiak Island. These birds turn completely white in the winter. This one is in the process of changing from white to its mottled summertime colors. Speaking of colors, that is beautiful red “eye shadow,” don’t you think?
Rock ptarmigan changing from white winter plumage to summer colors. Courtesy Tamara Payton, USFWS
Our heavenly Father is taking care of very many things. Year after year, He clothes the ermine and the snowshoe hare and the rock ptarmigan. He clothes us and feeds us and loves us. He knows what He is doing. We can rest in His wise, intelligent, and loving care.
Consider the lilies, how they grow:
they neither labor nor spin;
but I tell you, not even Solomon
in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
Luke 12:27
We have both ermine and snowshoe hares in our part of Montana, and they are a delight. I wish we had ptarmigan as well, but (alas!) we are too far south. Thanks for the lovely post!