Stoats
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i see them crossing roads relativly often, evey month or so.. they are so quick out of one headge and in to the other bouncing across almost! i always like to see them 
Never forgive a mink anything, they are nasty agressive little buggers that are wiping out our native speciesGrooveski said:Stoats on Bill Oddie tonight, beeb 2 - 8'o'clock.
Never seen one in the wild before. Seen lots of mink though, are they related? Nasty aggressive little blighters that they are you have to forgive them because they're just so cute
Grooveski said:Stoats on Bill Oddie tonight, beeb 2 - 8'o'clock.
Never seen one in the wild before. Seen lots of mink though, are they related? Nasty aggressive little blighters that they are you have to forgive them because they're just so cute
Seen a stoat with a dead rabbit once and have also seen a mink by the river Caldew when I was a nipper.
Although Mink are not native I still thought it was amazing to watch.
I had a few moments as a kid(more tears than blood) and still think mink are cute(in a nasty vicious I'm-allright-jack sort of way).
They are hell on wildlife. Ones I've seen were usualy after eggs or in burns fishing for small fry and snakes/newts. Mostly eggs though with a passion, up trees and on cliffs, where-ever the eggs were.
I don't think it's just Arran that was infested by out-of-control fur farms. I remember hearing that one of the western isles were pretty confindent that they'd culled them into extinction. Can't recall the details it but sounded like no mean feat.
The farming principle was sound enough in a messed up way, the islands did protect the mainland .
...or are there mink on mainland Britian too?
Stoat's are much cuter than mink by the looks of that wee dude on the box. Mink skulk about then when they're shifting they're more ferrety - that low to the ground and faster than you would ever have thought possible sort of vibe.
Mink have a look about them too, imagine the look on a stoat's face if you stood on it's tail - that's a mink relaxing in the sun on a rock.
They are hell on wildlife. Ones I've seen were usualy after eggs or in burns fishing for small fry and snakes/newts. Mostly eggs though with a passion, up trees and on cliffs, where-ever the eggs were.
I don't think it's just Arran that was infested by out-of-control fur farms. I remember hearing that one of the western isles were pretty confindent that they'd culled them into extinction. Can't recall the details it but sounded like no mean feat.
The farming principle was sound enough in a messed up way, the islands did protect the mainland
....or are there mink on mainland Britian too?
Stoat's are much cuter than mink by the looks of that wee dude on the box. Mink skulk about then when they're shifting they're more ferrety - that low to the ground and faster than you would ever have thought possible sort of vibe.
Mink have a look about them too, imagine the look on a stoat's face if you stood on it's tail - that's a mink relaxing in the sun on a rock.
Spooky,
On the way to work this morning a saw a dirty brown bit of fur, whizz across the road on a blur of legs. At first it looked like someone was dragging a rag across the road, then I noticed it hop onto the verge.
This time last year I crossed over a small bridge near our house and noticed something dark that had been run over. I stopped to have a look and it was a dead mink. I presume they use the water ways a lot.
That reminded me of last summer, when on the way to work I passed through Cricklade and noticed a bit of rope on the road. I slowed down to have a good look and saw it was about 2 foot long. Must of have been a grass snake. I then drove for another 200metres, and had to brake hard, cos another man came meandering across the road.
Not a bad year for seeing nature.
On the way to work this morning a saw a dirty brown bit of fur, whizz across the road on a blur of legs. At first it looked like someone was dragging a rag across the road, then I noticed it hop onto the verge.
This time last year I crossed over a small bridge near our house and noticed something dark that had been run over. I stopped to have a look and it was a dead mink. I presume they use the water ways a lot.
That reminded me of last summer, when on the way to work I passed through Cricklade and noticed a bit of rope on the road. I slowed down to have a good look and saw it was about 2 foot long. Must of have been a grass snake. I then drove for another 200metres, and had to brake hard, cos another man came meandering across the road.
Not a bad year for seeing nature.
Motorbike Man said:
That's just anthropocentric emotion. The North American mink is a successful, adaptable predator. They are not evil or "nasty": just doing what they're wired to do. They are not welcome in the wild here in Britain because they are alien intruders and can have an impact on our ecology, in some instances a significant one. But "wiping out our native species" is not an accurate assessment. Of course, a local situation can be dramatically affected if hundreds of mink are suddenly 'liberated' from a commercial fur farm by so-called animal rights activists.
But mink are certainly bold. Earlier in this thread I mentioned seeing an otter and an ermine on a stretch of the Aberdeenshire Dee. Another February, on that same stretch of river, I was fishing down a long broad pool with spinning tackle (no longer allowed on the Dee). I suddenly noticed a mink sitting on the bank about 20 yards downstream of me. It seemed very interested in what I was doing and looked every time my Devon minnow dropped into the river. As I got closer to the animal, I let my lure swing round right in towards the bank. It was very cold that February and an ice ledge had formed right along that stretch that extended out about a yard into the river. I wound the lure up to the surface and, with a quick lift of the rod tip, managed to flip the Devon out of the stream onto this ice ledge, close to the mink. The animal leapt for the minnow and I had to wind in like crazy to prevent it catching the lure as it came skittering along the ice ledge towards me. The mink followed the Devon practically to my feet and only sheered off when I lifted the rod and swung the minnow clear away. The animal gave me a long hard stare from barely 10 feet away, uttered a little angry chitter, and ran off. I'm sure I could easily have foul-hooked it with the big treble hook had I let it catch up with the lure. I'm glad I wasn't that stupid!
Mine was not a unique experience. I've read of other occasions where anglers have had a stand-off with brazen mink trying to steal bait, or fish that have been caught and carelessly left lying on the bank.
Burnt Ash
Motorbike Man said:
Yes, but I still can't help liking them as a creature of some pluck and character. I would imagine that all who saw them on TV last night would be similarly disposed - rather in the way we are drawn to the playful antics of mear cats etc?
Cheers
K
I agree with Jon.
Not the mink's fault but the damage they do is frightening.
Saying they are cute doesn't help in the drive to eradicate them from our environment.Public opinion seems to guide what our authorities do and if they hear "leave them alone,they're so sweet" god knows what'll happen.
The problem of introductions is a bad one.The crayfish epidemic is damaging river life and the river banks.The cuddly coypu did tremendous damage to our rivers.At least they were big and slow enough to catch.
Not the mink's fault but the damage they do is frightening.
Saying they are cute doesn't help in the drive to eradicate them from our environment.Public opinion seems to guide what our authorities do and if they hear "leave them alone,they're so sweet" god knows what'll happen.
The problem of introductions is a bad one.The crayfish epidemic is damaging river life and the river banks.The cuddly coypu did tremendous damage to our rivers.At least they were big and slow enough to catch.
Sorry if my comment seemed a bit OTT,it was written in a rush.Burnt Ash said:
Unfortunately this is exactly what has happened all through the South of England several times over the years and because of this, native animals that were making are come back are threatened again, either by predation or by the simple fact the Mink will bully themselves into an area, even driving Otters away by simply taking over the river banks. I totally agree that the Mink are just doing what they are 'programmed' to do, unfortunately they are 'programmed' to do it elsewhere and it is a fact that our native species are suffering because of them.
hi all
ive been following this thread from a distance with interest. it just happens that ive seen my first weasel around my area (lothians) for years...
ive been following this thread from a distance with interest. it just happens that ive seen my first weasel around my area (lothians) for years...
come on then.. someone has to say it.. how do you tell the difference between a Stoat and a Weasel...?
Slightly adapted to fit the context.
"A stoat is the lesser of two weasles" (It should be weevils, but hey, a bit of artistic license)
"A stoat is the lesser of two weasles" (It should be weevils, but hey, a bit of artistic license)
tomtom said:come on then.. someone has to say it.. how do you tell the difference between a Stoat and a Weasel...?
The answer, as I remember it: "they're weasely distinguishable because they're stoatally different".
Burnt Ash
tomtom said:come on then.. someone has to say it.. how do you tell the difference between a Stoat and a Weasel...?
And while we're about it... What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
Burnt Ash
