Three stoats in a garden!
In another of our short You Tube videos we have the pleasure of watching three Stoats, Mustela erminea playing in and exploring a Clachtoll garden. Many thanks to Dorell Pirie for allowing us to share her video with you.
As in our previous video we are again treated to the antics of one of Assynt’s mustelids. These stoats are much smaller than the Pine Marten we featured last time, but are just as enthusiastic hunters.
Their diet includes rabbits, rodents, birds and their eggs. The stoat in turn is food for foxes and birds of prey, which is how nature keeps things in balance.
Stoats are typically 30-40cm in length and can weigh up to 400 grams. Their smaller relative, the weasel, Mustela nivalis is 20-27cm in length, and even the largest male weasel is unlikely to weigh more than 195 grams.
Stoats always have a black tip to their longer tail even when in their winter whites. Weasels in the UK stay russet brown at all times and never have a black tip to their tail.
Enjoy these three stoats enjoying themselves via this link which is to our own YouTube channel.
D. Haines