Stoats
 Stoats and
Weasels are both related to the badger.
A stoat is larger than a Weasel, often with a
white coat in winter, with a
black tip to the tail.
The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the ermine or
short-tailed Weasel, is a
species of Mustelidae native to Eurasia and North America,
distinguished from the Weasel
by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.
Male stoats have a body which is 190-330mm (7.5-13 inches)long
with a tail which is roughly 75-120mm (3.0-4.5 inches) long and
an adult weight of roughly 260 grammes. Females are quite a bit
smaller, 170-270mm long, with a 65-105mm tail and an adult
weight of less than 180 grammes. If you contrast this to a
badger (which can typically weigh 11,000 grammes), you can see
why some people are surprised that
Weasels and stoats are
related to badgers. Indeed, there remains a lot of confusion
between Weasels and stoats
- especially in Ireland. This is because
Weasels do not occur in
Ireland but stoats do, but the Irish called their stoats,
weasels. In the USA, they called the stoat the short-tailed
weasel.
Incidentally, the word for "stoat" is likely either the Belgian
word stout, meaning "bold" or the Gothic word stautan, meaning
"to push".
A male stoat is called a dog, hob or jack, while a female is
called a bitch or jill. The collective noun for stoats is either
"gang" or "pack". |
