STOAT
MUSTELA ERMINEA

CLEAR RESIN ENCAPSULATION

Stoats have a long, thin body with a tail that ends in a bushy black tip. Their fur is sandy-brown to chestnut with white-cream underparts. The species is small, typically just 30-40cm in length and weighing 200-400 grams.

Habitat generalists found wherever suitable prey is available: forest edges, scrub, alpine meadows, riparian woodlands, hedgerows, riverbanks, tundra, agricultural areas, coastland, wetlands, grasslands, disturbed areas, suburban gardens.

Rabbits are a stoat’s favoured prey, even though they can be more than five times their size with a bite to the base of the skull. They will also take rodents, such as voles, mice and rats, as well as birds and their eggs. An energetic hunter, stoats readily pursue mice and voles into their underground burrows and will climb trees to raid birds nests. Stoats have a good sense of sight, smell and hearing, which they use to help them hunt. Stoats are very agile and good climbers and may take young birds from a nest. They are also strong swimmers, capable of crossing large rivers.

Their fur is chestnut brown in summer, with a lighter underparts. In winter, in the north regions of North America and tundra areas, their fur becomes thicker and turns white, this is when they are referred to as Ermine or as being ''in ermine''. In all seasons the stoat has a black tip to its tail. The black tip probably serves as a decoy to predators, which would include almost any carnivore large enough to eat a stoat such as badgers, cats, wolves, foxes, wolverines and some birds of prey.

Life expectancy 2-3 years in wild, up to 12.5 years in captivity.
Females reach sexual maturity at 95 days, males at 1 year.
Breeding occurs once per year.
Gestation period is 43 days.
Females bear 6-7 per litter.

The stoats visual resolution is lower than that of humans and colour vision is poor, although night vision is superior. Tactile information is presented by the vibrissae, or whiskers. When alarmed, a stoat can release a powerful musky smell from its anal glands.

Male and female stoats live separately, marking their territories with scent. These animals will defend their territory against intruders of the same sex, but in spring the males system breaks down as they range widely in search of females.

Introduced in the late 19th century into New Zealand to control rabbits, the stoat has had a devastating effect on native bird populations. It was nominated as one of the world's top 100 "worst invaders".