Stoatally dead

Unfortunately this stoat had not only been killed but the tail had been bitten off.  The black tip of the tail is a key identifier.  It's a rather gruesome picture but (a) it proves they are around and (b) it's the best photo of a stoat I shall probably ever get.  They are very secretive and hard to see and don't like crossing open ground.  

This photo below is what a living stoat looks like.  They are fierce little killers closely related to weasels (which are also pretty vicious if you're a rabbit or a mouse or a vole), and pine martens (which like peanuts but also squirrels, nestlings and  birds' eggs.)

Stoato photo: Vic Sharratt of the Wildlife Trusts

There's a really good Natural World broadcast available on BBC i-player called 'Weasels - feisty and fearless' with footage of weasels, stoats, wolverines and honey badgers, all members of the weasel family Mustelidae.