In summary:- Weasels are the smallest and are orange-brown with a white-cream underbelly and a uniformly brown/or white tail. (They do not turn white in winter in the UK…only stoats do). Here are a couple more shots of weasel in winter coat that I shot a few years ago, also in the USA/Colorado.
- Stoats have a distinguishing black tip at the end of their tail even when they develop a white coat in the winter. The easiest and most reliable way to tell a stoat (Mustela erminea) from a weasel (Mustela nivalis) is the tail. A stoat’s tail is around half the length of its body and ends in a bushy black tip. A weasel’s tail is short and stubby by comparison and solely brown/white in colour. Stoats have a characteristic bounding gait with an arched back. The movement of weasels is often quicker and flatter to the ground.
The stoat can be seen across the UK.
They are small only 24-32cm with a 9-14cm tail. They only live for 2-5 years
The stoat is a small predator, that hunts small rodents and rabbits. It can easily kill an adult rabbit, which is much larger than itself, with a bite to the base of the skull. Stoats are active both day and night. They have one litter of six to twelve kits a year.
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