Washington mammals

American Ermine in Washington

Mustela erminea

Native to Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; treated as native to its mapped Washington range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Mustela Erminea headMustela erminea hibernicaMustela erminea uprightAmerican ermine standing alert on a wooden beamAmerican ermine peering from a mossy den entranceAmerican ermine in white winter coat crossing an alpine talus slope
Photo: Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Mustela Erminea headPhoto: Alastair Rae from London, United Kingdom · CC BY-SA 2.0Mustela erminea hibernicaPhoto: Steve Hillebrand, USFWS · Public domainMustela erminea uprightPhoto: Robbie Hannawacker · CC0American ermine standing alert on a wooden beamPhoto: miaow7477 · CC0American ermine peering from a mossy den entrancePhoto: Игорь Загребин · CC0American ermine in white winter coat crossing an alpine talus slope

American Ermine in Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 71st most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

287 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

287 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 286; the monthly chart covers the 278 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American Ermine in Washington

Most sightings fall in June to August.

278 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January21
February7
March8
April12
May8
June31
July49
August45
September26
October26
November24
December21

Monthly american ermine occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in June–August.

Occurrence map

Where American Ermine has been recorded in Washington

286 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

285 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Mount Rainier National Park 16
Olympic National Park 14
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) State Resource Management Area 9
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 7
North Cascades National Park 4
William O. Douglas Wilderness 3
Goat Rocks Wilderness 2
Olympic National Forest 2

Protected places with the most american ermine sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Washington

CountyRecords
Clallam County 42
Pierce County 24
Okanogan County 23
Lewis County 19
Pend Oreille County 17
Jefferson County 16
Whitman County 15
King County 14
Mason County 13
Whatcom County 12
Skagit County 11
Thurston County 9
19 other counties 72

The complete county distribution, spread across 31 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Across the Washington overlay, american ermine is represented by 287 records. All come from GBIF; there are no iNaturalist records in the overlay. In the record-volume ordering, not a population census, it falls at rank 64 of 126.

Seasonally, July leads with 49 records, while February has 7. Both Olympic National Park and Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge appear as search areas, although the data do not rank those sites. The overlay supports conclusions about records and reporting, not population density.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

Mustela Erminea head
Full species profile American Ermine Mustela erminea Size 17–33 cm6.7–13 in Weight 70–260 g2.5–9.2 oz Lifespan Up to 12.5 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"