Breeding and Upbringing

Please note: this information is from www.ypte.org.uk.

The only time adult males and females associate is during mating season. This happens in the spring. Males may travel far from their territory during this time, while females stay in their own territory. The gestation period is around eight weeks. A litter of kittens (yes, kittens) is born in April or May, and sometimes another will be born in July or August. The kittens are born in a burrow lined with leaves or down. Their eyes open at three weeks and they are weaned a few weeks later. The juveniles and mother hunt together until the kittens can hunt for themselves at around eight weeks.

Photo by Dan Arndt, from here.

 In the image, a litter of nine kittens is in the open for probably the first time. The mother is a few feet away. When they are about twelve weeks old, the mother drives them away to find territory. If they are born early in the year, weasels will reach sexual maturity by summer.