Stoat (Mustela erminea)
Stoats turn completely white in winter, except for the black tips of their tails. During this time, they are called 'ermine'. Stoats in northern Britain are more likely to turn completely white than their southern counterparts.
What do they sound like?
Watch video clips from past programmes (4 clips)
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Stoatally fabulous 
Rabbit hunt 
Playing for keeps 
Stoat hunt Featured in the following TV programmes
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Catch Up
Life: Hunters and Hunted
Unique footage of a killer whale engaging in sneaky behaviour to hunt elephant seal pups.
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Archived
Springwatch: Episode 10
Simon King reveals Wales is a stronghold for the rarest species of crow breeding in the UK
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Archived
The Nature of Britain: Farmland
Series on British wildlife, presented by Alan Titchmarsh.
About the Stoat
The stoat or ermine (Mustela erminea) is a small mammal of the family Mustelidae. It is also known as a Shorttail (or Short-tailed) Weasel and less frequently as an ermelin. Sometimes "ermine" refers to the animal only when it has white fur, while "stoat" only refers to when it has brown fur.
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Featured in...
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What on Earth...? 2009
Watch the year's highlights from the BBC's exploration of the planet's hidden corners and rarest creatures: from the turquoise seas of the South Pacific to the Lost Land of the Volcano.
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The wildlife of Life
In autumn 2009, a major new series brought us life as we've never seen it before.
The Stoat is
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
This region contains the following habitats:
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder
Conservation Status
The Stoat is Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Stable
Year assessed: 2008
Elsewhere on the web
- Stoat - Mustela erminea (arkive.org)
- Mustela erminea (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- The Mammal Society: fact file (abdn.ac.uk)
- The Guardian: How to tell stoats and weasels apart (guardian.co.uk)
- Norfolk Wildlife Trust: species profile and where to see (norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk)
- Stoat (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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