STOATS
Stoats can be found all over the British Isles. They are less common than they used to be, partly because farmers and gamekeepers shoot or trap them. They do this because stoats eat the eggs and young fledglings of game birds like partridge and pheasant. In places where they are protected, or there is a good food supply, stoats breed rapidly and become locally very common. They usually move around at night, although they can be seen in daylight hours.
STOAT FEATURES
The stoat is a slender, long-bodied animal with a black tipped tail. They are 18 - 30cm. long and the tail is 6 - 12cm. long. Males are larger than females. Stoats and weasels do not usually occupy the same areas, but, where they do coexist, stoats tend to be the larger. The coat is reddish-brown on the back with pale underparts. Stoats that live in northern areas turn pure white in the winter, except for the tip of the tail, which remains black. The fur is then called ermine and used to be highly prized for trimming ceremonial robes. The male is called the dog, the female is a bitch and the young are kittens.
HABITAT
Stoats are often found close to human habitation. They are very curious and will explore burrows and buildings. If you startle one it will dive for cover in the nearest hedge or hole, but, if you stay still and quiet, it will soon come out again for a better look at you. They prefer open low country and can be found round hedgerows, paths, walls, ditches and copses, in fact anywhere with good hiding places. They tend to wander over a large area, but usually settle close to a good food supply. This is the reason they are often seen near farm buildings.
FOOD
They are hunters (carnivores) and prey on birds, reptiles, and small mammals especially voles, hares and rabbits. A stoat kills by biting through the back of the skull. Stoats also take eggs of chickens and game birds.
DWELLING PLACE
The nest used for breeding is usually in a hole in a dry stone wall, under a hedgerow or in a dry ditch. Occasionally a stoat will kill the rabbits in a warren and then use that as a base. Most carnivores sleep after a good meal and stoats will sleep in any underground burrow where it has made a kill.
BREEDING
Stoats only raise one litter a year, in the late spring. The number of kittens will vary with the food supply. The kittens are suckled and are weaned after 5 weeks. The parents then teach them to hunt for themselves.
WEASELS
A weasel is like a small stoat, with a shorter tail without the black tip. The males are much larger than the females. The head and body of a male is about 20cm. and a female measures about 18cm. Weasels do not turn white in winter in Britain. Its distribution is similar to that of stoats.
Weasels are active by day and night, but they prefer to hunt under cover. They will use the runs of mice, voles and moles and are sometimes caught in mole traps.
They eat mainly mice, voles and shrews, but will probably kill and eat any other prey that they can master, including young rabbits, small birds and eggs.
The weasel differs from the stoat in its breeding habits. Weasels normally raise two litters a year, the first in late spring and then a second in late summer. The young are weaned after 4 to 5 weeks. The young from the first litter may breed in their first year.
Their numbers fluctuate with the number of mice and voles and, because mice and vole populations vary widely on a cyclical basis, weasel numbers probably vary more than stoat numbers.