Stoat

Stoats Mustela ermine are amazing hunters, chasing down and killing rabbits ten times their size (please view video)!

Stoats are of the same family as weasels and otters among others. They are good swimmers and hunt anything they can catch. As well as rabbits their diet include small mammals, birds, eggs, carrion and large insects.

When available Stoats tend to show a prefence for old stone walls to live in. Females give birth to a litter of kits (upto a dozen) in the spring time when game is plentiful, alone she raises her family teaching the kits how to hunt. They will operate as a pack for a short time hunting together. Eventually the family must break up and mother chases off her young into the world.

They can be a problem for Game Keepers and anyone who keeps poultry, proper proofing is the best solution to keeping your livestock safe from stoats however traps can be used to catch animals.