Sussex Wildlife Trust - Stoats are ‘stoataly’ different ..........

There can’t be many people who at some time in their life who haven’t enjoyed reading ‘Wind in the Willows’ and will undoubtedly recall that the ‘baddies’ in Kenneth Grahame’s much loved classic are undoubtedly the stoats and weasels who occupied Toad Hall.

In fact, overtime they have both generally generated an unpopular reputation and even outright hostility, the epitome of what we think of as vermin. Amongst landowners the only time they liked to see them was when their bodies were strung out in a line on a gibbet! ‘Weasely’ has entered our vocabulary to describe someone who is a shifty and untrustworthy. So, I think it’s about time that these two unpopular creatures had a public image makeover.

Neither of them is uncommon, they are widespread throughout the UK although the weasel is not found in Ireland. You are likely to encounter them along field edges and ditches in the longer grasses and stoats in particular don’t like to be out in the open whereas weasels have a wider range of habitat and are more likely to be seen in urban areas.

So, if you see one, how will you tell the difference? Stoats are bigger though by not much. What you have to look at is the tail and if there is a black tip to it then you are looking at a stoat. The other name you might know a stoat by is ermine as they sometimes turn white in winter, especially the further north you go, but this is an unlikely occurrence in Sussex.

Weasels are really pencil thin, long, sleek and very quick, but essentially the pattern of the fur on both mammals is very similar. In the end to identify them you might have to come down to a very unhelpful saying ‘weasels are ‘weasely’ told and stoats are ‘stoataly’ different!

That they are voracious and clinical hunters is without doubt and their unpopularity and subsequent persecution resulted from their occasional forays into game pens where, as with any predator, faced with an abundance of potential prey will go on a frenzied killing spree.

Despite their similarities there doesn’t appear too much competition for food between them. Stoats will go for larger prey items, mainly rabbits and water voles whereas weasels prefer smaller mammals such as mice and voles, though they will both take eggs, chicks, insects and worms. Their success depends on the amount of food available and fluctuates from year to year; starvation is the main cause of death for both species.

I have had a few encounters with stoats and weasels over the years and, although not always pretty, have been very entertaining.

I was watching a nestbox at Woods Mill many years ago in which resided a family of great tits when a weasel rapidly climbed the tree and managed to squeeze through the entrance hall of the box and undoubtedly made short work of the chicks. Well you can’t consume what probably amounted to at least half your own body weight without having an impact on the waistline and, sure enough, the weasel was now too fat to get out the hole.

For the next 30 minutes I watched him gnaw at the hole to make it big enough to slip out, a monumental effort that required so much energy that probably made it ravenously hungry again.

The whole ecological system by which we all survive requires predator-prey relationships and stoats and weasels are a very effective part of that system, and shouldn’t be vilified for that role.

If you do come across them stay quiet and still as they will often be unaware of your presence and you might well be rewarded by observing some natural, very energetic and entertaining behaviour by one of our most charismatic mammal species.
www.sussexwt.org.uk

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