The stoat is a carnivorous mammal from the Mustelidae family. It is a small animal: its weight is only 70-260 g. Its color helps it, during any season, to blend into the environment. In summer, its fur is brown, and in winter it changes to pure white except the black tip of the tail. The winter color change is typical for stoats in the places where the land is covered with snow for 40 days or longer.
Stoats are solitary and territorial animals. They always mark the boundaries of their territories that can be quite large, from 10 to 20 hectares. Males and females live separately and meet only during the mating season.
In hungry years, stoats leave their territories and migrate, sometimes quite far. In such times, these animals can be found even in towns, usually near waste deposits and other places where rats live. Rodents are the main component of their diet. However, they can eat other small animals, carrion, and berries.
Stoats are mostly active during twilight and at night. They are quick and agile, and good swimmers; they can quickly climb up and down the trees and move in the snow. If there is too little food around, these animals can walk about 15 km. Despite their small size, stoats are brave and aggressive: in case of extreme danger, they can even attack a human.
They are undemanding when it comes to finding a place for living and even for breeding. They do not make holes themselves. They can be found in most unexpected places: inside haystacks, stone piles, among the ruins of abandoned buildings, or between logs piled up at the wall of a living house. They also occupy the holes of the rodents they kill, and when the water is high, they hide in the hollows of trees. They do not have permanent hiding places in winter, so they use any holes they find along the way, and very rarely return to the same place.
Since ancient times, stoats have been characters of legends: for example, there was a popular belief that if dirt falls on a stoat’s snow-white fur, it will die. The precious fur of this animal was used for decorating royal mantles and court ladies’ dresses. It was considered to be a symbol of purity, virtue and chastity.
Stoats are solitary and territorial animals. They always mark the boundaries of their territories that can be quite large, from 10 to 20 hectares. Males and females live separately and meet only during the mating season.
In hungry years, stoats leave their territories and migrate, sometimes quite far. In such times, these animals can be found even in towns, usually near waste deposits and other places where rats live. Rodents are the main component of their diet. However, they can eat other small animals, carrion, and berries.
Stoats are mostly active during twilight and at night. They are quick and agile, and good swimmers; they can quickly climb up and down the trees and move in the snow. If there is too little food around, these animals can walk about 15 km. Despite their small size, stoats are brave and aggressive: in case of extreme danger, they can even attack a human.
They are undemanding when it comes to finding a place for living and even for breeding. They do not make holes themselves. They can be found in most unexpected places: inside haystacks, stone piles, among the ruins of abandoned buildings, or between logs piled up at the wall of a living house. They also occupy the holes of the rodents they kill, and when the water is high, they hide in the hollows of trees. They do not have permanent hiding places in winter, so they use any holes they find along the way, and very rarely return to the same place.
Since ancient times, stoats have been characters of legends: for example, there was a popular belief that if dirt falls on a stoat’s snow-white fur, it will die. The precious fur of this animal was used for decorating royal mantles and court ladies’ dresses. It was considered to be a symbol of purity, virtue and chastity.
