No.307 · Mammals · Uncommon
Stoat
Mustela erminea
A long, bounding hunter with a chestnut back, a cream front and always a black tip to its tail. It'll stand bolt upright for a look at you, then vanish.
When to see a stoat
All year, mostly at dawn, by day and at dusk.
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Time of day
- Dawn
- Day
- Dusk
- Night
Where to see a stoat in the UK
- The Cairngorms. Up here it goes white in winter, all but the black tip of its tail.
Stoat facts at a glance
- Best time
- All year, by day or at dusk: field edges, hedges, stone walls and moorland. In the Cairngorms, look for the white winter coat.
- Where in the game
- Millbrook (farmland, grassland and churchyard) and the Cairngorms (moorland, mountain and pine forest)
- Size
- Head and body 24–32 cm, tail 9–14 cm
- Weight
- 140–450 g
- Lifespan
- 2–5 years (Wildlife Trusts)
- Population
- About 438,000 in Great Britain (PTES)
- Status
- Least Concern in Great Britain, Near Threatened in Wales (PTES)
Diet
Small rodents and rabbits. A stoat can kill an adult rabbit far bigger than itself, with a bite to the base of the skull.
Habitat
Farmland, hedges, walls, woodland edges and moorland.
Breeding
Mates in summer, but the fertilised egg doesn't implant until the following spring. One litter of 6–12 kits a year.
Field signs
- A black tail tip: a weasel doesn't have one
- A bounding run with the back arched, where a weasel stays close to the ground
- Stone walls and rabbit warrens where it comes and goes
Did you know?
- In colder places it turns almost completely white in winter, keeping only the black tail tip. That's ermine.
- In warmer parts of Britain it may stay brown or go patchy instead (Wildlife Trusts).
- It mates in summer but the pregnancy doesn't really start until the next spring.
Photo tip
Stoats are curious. If one dives into a wall, stay still with the lens on the gap: it may well pop back out for another look.
Be a good naturalist
Don't block walls or burrows to make it reappear, and keep back if you find kits. Watch quietly and let it come to you.
The law
Not given special protection: stoats are legally trapped and shot by gamekeepers to protect game birds (PTES).
