Karen Alice Easts age 8.. of Ajo, Arizona.. for her question:

Is the ermine all white?

A mink and an ermine were bragging about their glamorous fur coats. Why  you're just a glorified weasel.. said the ermine. Well.. said the mink.. you too are just a glorified weasel. All summer long you are just a tawny colored stoat with a black tip on the end of your tail. True. in winter you don a white coat to match the snow. But that black tip on the end of your tail gives you away. That you do‑not change.

Both these jealous animals were correct in their nasty remarks. For both belong to the weasel family   the best dressed animal family in the world. Actually  the snowy ermine is the graceful  tawny stoat in disguise. In regions where snow always covers the winter grounds he changes his coat . to white and becomes an ermine. But summer or winter.. north or south he keeps that black tip on the end of his tail.

That black tip adds value to his precious fur. It is used to fringe and decorate it. In olden days  this was the fur worn by kings and royalty. It was called minerva.  cloak of ermine.. fringed with those black tipped tails.. was worth a kings ransom.