Stoat
Encyclopedia
The stoat also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid
native to Eurasia
and North America
, distinguished from the least weasel
by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip. Its range has expanded since the late 19th century to include New Zealand
, where it is held responsible for declines in native bird populations. It is classed by the IUCN as Least Concern
, due to its wide circumpolar distribution, and the fact that it does not face any significant threat to its survival. It is listed among the 100 "world's worst alien invasive species".
word stautan, meaning "to push". According to John Guillim
, in his Display of Heraldrie, the word "ermine" is likely derived from Armenia
, the nation where it was thought the species originated, though other authors have linked it to the Norman French from the Teutonic harmin (Anglo-Saxon hearma). This again seems to come from the Lithuanian
word šarmu. In Ireland
(where the least weasel does not occur), the stoat is referred to as "weasel", while in North America it is called "short-tailed weasel". 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".
, and probably reached North America in its current form during the late Blancan
or early Irvingtonian
. The stoat is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of small, burrowing rodents. The stoat's ancestors were larger than the current form, and underwent a reduction in size to exploit the new food source. The stoat first arose in Eurasia, shortly after the long-tailed weasel
arose as its mirror image in North America 2 million years ago. The stoat thrived during the Ice Age
, as its small size and long body allowed it to easily operate beneath snow, as well as hunt in burrows. The stoat and the long tailed weasel remained separated until half a million years ago, when falling sea level
s exposed the Bering land bridge
.
Combined phylogenetic
analyses indicate that the stoat's closest living relative is the mountain weasel
(Mustela altaica), though it is also closely related to the least weasel
(Mustela nivalis) and long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata). Its next closest relatives are the New World
Colombian weasel
(Mustela felipei) and the Amazon weasel (Mustela africana).
in general proportions, manner of posture and movement, though the tail is relatively longer, always exceeding a third of the body length, though it is shorter than that of the long-tailed weasel
. The stoat has an elongated neck, the head being set exceptionally far in front of the shoulders. The trunk is nearly cylindrical, and does not bulge at the abdomen. The greatest circumference of body is little
more than half its length. The skull, although very similar to that of the least weasel, is relatively longer, with a narrower braincase. The projections of the skull and teeth are weakly developed, but stronger than those of the least weasel. The eyes are round, black and protrude slightly. The whiskers are brown or white in colour, and very long. The ears are short, rounded and lie almost flattened against the skull. The claws are non-retractable, and are large in proportion to the digits. Each foot has five toes. The male stoat has a curved baculum
with a proximal knob which increases in weight as it ages. Fat
is deposited primarily along the spine and kidneys, then on gut mesenteries, under the limbs and around the shoulders. The stoat has 4 pairs of nipples, though they are only visible in females.
The dimensions of the stoat are variable, but not to the extent as the least weasel. Unusually among the Carnivora, the size of stoats tends to decrease proportionally with latitude, in contradiction to Bergmann's Rule
. There is pronounced sexual dimorphism
in size, with males being 1.5-2.0 times the weight of females. On average, males measure 187–325 mm in body length, while females measure 170–270 mm. The tail measures 75–120 mm in males and 65–106 mm in females. In males, the hind foot measures 40.0-48.2 mm, while in females it is 37.0-47.6 mm. The height of the ear measures 18.0-23.2 mm in males and 14.0-23.3 mm. The skulls of males measure 39.3-52.2 mm in length, while those of females measure 35.7-45.8 mm. Males weigh 258 grams, while females weigh less than 180 grams.
The stoat has large anal scent gland
s measuring 8.5 x 5 mm in males and smaller in females. The glands produce a strong musky odour produced by several sulphuric compounds. Scent glands are also present on the cheeks, belly and flanks. Epidermal
secretions, which are deposited during body rubbing, are chemically distinct from the anal scent glands, which contain a higher proportion of volatile chemicals. When attacked or aggressive, the stoat excretes the contents of its anal glands, producing a strong, musky odour, which is distinct from that of least weasels.
Mating occurs in the April–July period. In spring, the male's testes are enlarged, a process accompanied by an increase of testosterone
concentration in the plasma
. Spermatogenesis
occurs in December, and the males are fertile from May–August, after which the testes regress. Stoats are not monogamous, with litters often being of mixed paternity. The gestation period
lasts circa 280 days. Males play no part in rearing the young, which are born blind, deaf, toothless and covered in fine white or pinkish down. The milk teeth erupt after 3 weeks, and solid food is eaten after 4 weeks. The eyes open after 5–6 weeks, with the black tail-tip appearing a week later. Lactation
ends after 12 weeks. Prior to the age of 5–7 weeks, kits have poor thermoregulation
, thus the kits huddle for warmth when the mother is absent. Males become sexually mature at 10–11 months, while females are sexually mature at the age of 2–3 weeks whilst still blind, deaf and hairless, and are usually mated with adult males before being weaned
.
, faeces and two types of scent marks; anal drags meant to convey territorial occupancy and body rubbing, which is associated with agonistic encounters.
The stoat does not dig its own burrows, instead using the burrows and nest chambers of the rodents it kills. The skins and underfur of rodent prey are used to line the nest chamber. The nest chamber is sometimes located in seemingly unsuitable places, such as among logs piled against the walls of houses. The stoat also inhabits old and rotting stumps, under tree roots, in heaps of brushwood, haystacks, in bog hummocks, in the cracks of vacant mud buildings, in rock piles, rock clefts, and even in magpie
nests. Males and females typically live apart, but close to each other. Each stoat has several dens dispersed within its range. A single den has several galleries, mainly within 30 cm of the surface.
s and others, which it overpowers in their burrows. Prey species of secondary importance include small bird
s, fish
and shrew
s and, more rarely, amphibian
s, lizard
s and insect
s. In Great Britain, European rabbit
s are an important food source, with the frequency in which stoats prey on them having increased between the 1960s and mid 1990s since the end of the myxomatosis
epidemic. Typically, male stoats prey on rabbits more frequently than females do, which depend to a greater extent on smaller rodent species. British stoats rarely kill shrews, rat
s, squirrel
s and water voles, though rats may be an important food source locally. In Ireland, shrews and rats are frequently eaten. In mainland Europe, water voles make up a large portion of the stoat's diet. Hare
s are sometimes taken, but are usually young specimens. In North America, where the ecological niche
for rat and rabbit sized prey is taken by the larger long-tailed weasel, the stoat preys on mice, voles, shrews and young cottontails. In New Zealand, the stoat feeds principally on birds, including the rare kiwi
, kaka, mohua, yellow-crowned parakeet
and New Zealand dotterel
. Cases are known of stoats preying on young muskrat
s. The stoat typically eats about 50 grams of food a day, which is equivalent to 25% of the animal's live weight.
The stoat is an opportunistic predator, which moves rapidly and checks every available burrow or crevice for food. Because of their larger size, male stoats are less successful than females in pursuing rodents far into tunnels. The stoat regularly climbs trees to gain access to bird's nests, and are common raiders of nest boxes, particularly those of large species. The stoat reputedly immobilises prey such as rabbits by mesmerising them with a "dance", though this behaviour could be linked to Skrjabingylus
infections. When tackling large prey, the stoat bites the nape of the neck whilst grasping it with its forefeet, intertwines its body around the animal then scratches its lower body with its back feet. Contrary to popular belief, blood which flows from resulting wounds is not sucked, but lapped up. The stoat may surplus kill
when the opportunity arises, though excess prey is usually cached and eaten later to avoid obesity
, as overweight stoats tend to be at a disadvantage when pursuing prey into their burrows. Small prey typically die instantly from a bite to the back of the neck, while larger prey, such as rabbits, typically die of shock
, as the stoat's canine teeth are too short to reach the spinal column or major arteries.
Aggressive behaviour in stoats is categorised in the following forms:
Submissive stoats express their status by avoiding higher ranking animals, fleeing from them or making whining or squealing sounds.
, Europe
, and Asia
, from Greenland
and the Canadian and Siberian Arctic islands south to about 35°N. Stoats in North America are found throghout Alaska
and Canada
south through most of the northern United States
to central California
, northern Arizona
, northern New Mexico
, Iowa
, the Great Lakes
region, Pennsylvania
, and northern Virginia
. The stoat in Europe is found as far south as 41ºN in Portugal
, and inhabits most islands with the exception of Iceland
, Svalbard
, the Mediterranean islands and some small North Atlantic islands. In Japan
, it is present in central mountains (northern and central Japan Alps) to northern part of Honshu
(primarily above 1,200 m) and Hokkaido. Its vertical range is from sea level to 3,000 m.
. The warnings were ignored and stoats began to be introduced from Britain in the 1880s, thus resulting in a noticeable decline in bird populations within six years. Stoats are a serious threat to ground and hole nesting birds, since they have very little means of escaping predation. The highest rates of stoat predation occur after seasonal gluts in southern beechmast seeds, which encourage the reproduction of rodents which stoats also feed on, thus encouraging stoats to increase their own numbers. For instance, the endangered takahe
's wild population dropped by a third between 2006 and 2007, after a stoat plague triggered by the 2005–06 mast
wiped out more than half the takahe in untrapped areas.
has been recorded in stoats inhabiting the former Soviet Union and New Zealand. The stoat is largely resistant to tularemia
, and is reputed to suffer from canine distemper
in captivity. Symptoms of mange
have also been recorded.
Stoats are vulnerable to ectoparasites associated with their prey and the nests of other animals which they do not prey on. The louse
Trichodectes erminea is recorded in stoats living in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. In continental Europe, 26 flea
species are recorded to infest stoats. Flea species known to infest stoats include Rhadinospylla pentacantha, Megabothris rectangulatus, Orchopeas howardi, Spilopsyllus ciniculus, Ctenophthalamus nobilis, Dasypsyllus gallinulae
, Nosopsyllus fasciatus
, Leptospylla segnis, Ceratophyllus gallinae, Parapsyllus n. nestoris, Amphipsylla kuznetzovi and Ctenopsyllus bidentatus. Tick
species known to infest stoats are Ixodes canisuga, I. hexagonus
, and I. ricinus
and Haemaphysalis longicornis
. Louse
species known to infest stoats include Mysidea picae and Polyplax spinulosa
. Mite
species known to infest stoats include Neotrombicula autumnalis
, Demodex erminae, Eulaelaps stabulans
, Gymnolaelaps annectans, Hypoaspis nidicorva Listrophorus mustelae.
The nematode
Skrjabingylus is particularly serious to stoats, as it erodes the bones of the nasal sinuses and decreases fertility. One symptom includes fits, which may explain the "dancing" behaviour usually associated with hunting. Other nematode species known to infect stoats include Capillaria putorii
, Molineus patens and Strongyloides martes. Cestode species known to infect stoats include Taenia tenuicollis
, Mesocestoides lineatus and rarely Acanthocephala
.
, stoats were viewed anthrophomorphically
as animals with families, which held rituals for their dead. They were also viewed as noxious animals prone to thieving and their saliva was said to be able to poison a grown man. To encounter a stoat when setting out for a journey was considered bad luck, but one could avert this by greeting the stoat as a neighbour. Stoats were also supposed to hold the souls of infants who died before baptism
. In the folklore of the Komi peoples
, stoats are symbolic of beautiful and coveted young women. In the Zoroastrian
religion, the stoat is considered a sacred animal, as its white winter coat represented purity. Similarly, Mary Magdalene
was depicted as wearing a white stoat pelt as a sign of her reformed character. One popular European legend had it that a white stoat would die before allowing its pure white coat to be besmirched. When it was being chased by hunters, it would supposedly turn around and give itself up to the hunters rather than risk soiling itself.
, which is inspired by the winter coat of the stoat but which is painted onto other furs, such as rabbit. In Europe these furs are a symbol of royalty and high status; the ceremonial robes of members of the UK
House of Lords
and the academic hoods
of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally trimmed with ermine although in practice rabbit or fake fur is now often used instead due to expense and/or animal rights
issues. Prelates of the Catholic Church still wear ecclesiastical garments featuring ermine (a sign of their status equal to that of the nobility). Cecilia Gallerani
is depicted holding an ermine in her portrait, "Lady with an Ermine
". Henry Peacham
's Emblem 75, which depicts an ermine being pursued by a hunter and two hounds, is entitled "Cui candor morte redemptus" or "Purity bought with his own death". Peacham goes on to preach that men and women should follow the example of the ermine and keep their minds and consciences as pure as the legendary ermine keeps its fur. The stoat was a fundamental item in the fur trade of the Soviet Union
, with no less than half the global catch coming from within its borders. The Soviet Union also contained the highest grades of stoat pelts, with the best grade North American pelts being comparable only to the 9th grade in the quality criteria of former Soviet stoat standards. However, stoat harvesting never became a specialty in any Soviet republic, with most stoats being captured incidentally in traps or near villages. Stoats in the Soviet Union were captured either with dogs or with box-traps or jaw-traps. Guns were rarely used, as they could damage the skin.
Mustelidae
Mustelidae , commonly referred to as the weasel family, are a family of carnivorous mammals. Mustelids are diverse and the largest family in the order Carnivora, at least partly because in the past it has been a catch-all category for many early or poorly differentiated taxa...
native to Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, distinguished from the least weasel
Least Weasel
The least weasel is the smallest member of the Mustelidae , native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, though it has been introduced elsewhere. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large population...
by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip. Its range has expanded since the late 19th century to include New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, where it is held responsible for declines in native bird populations. It is classed by the IUCN as Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
, due to its wide circumpolar distribution, and the fact that it does not face any significant threat to its survival. It is listed among the 100 "world's worst alien invasive species".
Etymology
The root word for "stoat" is likely either the Belgic word stout, meaning "bold" or the GothicGothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
word stautan, meaning "to push". According to John Guillim
John Guillim
John Guillim was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He is, perhaps, best remembered for his monumental work A Display of Heraldry which was first published in London in 1610....
, in his Display of Heraldrie, the word "ermine" is likely derived from Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, the nation where it was thought the species originated, though other authors have linked it to the Norman French from the Teutonic harmin (Anglo-Saxon hearma). This again seems to come from the Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
word šarmu. In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
(where the least weasel does not occur), the stoat is referred to as "weasel", while in North America it is called "short-tailed weasel". 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".
Evolution
The stoat's direct ancestor was Mustela palerminea, a common carnivore in central and eastern Europe during the Middle PleistoceneMiddle Pleistocene
The Middle Pleistocene, more specifically referred to as the Ionian stage, is a period of geologic time from ca. 781 to 126 thousand years ago....
, and probably reached North America in its current form during the late Blancan
Blancan
The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,808,000 years BP, a period of .. It is usually considered to start in the early-mid Pliocene epoch and end...
or early Irvingtonian
Irvingtonian
The Irvingtonian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 1,800,000 to 300,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to overlap the Lower Pleistocene and Middle...
. The stoat is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of small, burrowing rodents. The stoat's ancestors were larger than the current form, and underwent a reduction in size to exploit the new food source. The stoat first arose in Eurasia, shortly after the long-tailed weasel
Long-tailed Weasel
The long-tailed weasel , also known as the bridled weasel or big stoat is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America.-Evolution:The long-tailed weasel is the product of...
arose as its mirror image in North America 2 million years ago. The stoat thrived during the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, as its small size and long body allowed it to easily operate beneath snow, as well as hunt in burrows. The stoat and the long tailed weasel remained separated until half a million years ago, when falling sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
s exposed the Bering land bridge
Bering land bridge
The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles wide at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages. Like most of Siberia and all of Manchuria, Beringia was not glaciated because snowfall was extremely light...
.
Combined phylogenetic
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...
analyses indicate that the stoat's closest living relative is the mountain weasel
Mountain Weasel
The mountain weasel , also known as the pale weasel, Altai weasel or solongoi, is a species of weasel that prefer to live in environments that are usually high in altitude as well as rocky tundra and grassy woodlands covered in green vegetation.They rest in rock crevices, tree trunks, and...
(Mustela altaica), though it is also closely related to the least weasel
Least Weasel
The least weasel is the smallest member of the Mustelidae , native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, though it has been introduced elsewhere. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large population...
(Mustela nivalis) and long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata). Its next closest relatives are the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
Colombian weasel
Colombian Weasel
Colombian weasel , also known as Don Felipe's weasel, is a very rare species of weasel only known with certainty from the departments of Huila and Cauca in Colombia and nearby northern Ecuador...
(Mustela felipei) and the Amazon weasel (Mustela africana).
Subspecies
, 37 subspecies are recognised.| Subspecies | Trinomial authority | Description | Range | Synonyms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern stoat Mustela e. erminea (Nominate subspecies) |
Linnaeus, 1758 | A moderately sized to small subspecies, with a relatively short and broad facial region | Kola Peninsula Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast... , Scandinavia Scandinavia Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,... |
hyberna (Kerr, 1792) maculata (Billberg, 1827) |
| Middle Russian stoat Mustela e. aestiva  |
Kerr, 1792 | A moderately sized subspecies with dark, tawny or chestnut summer fur | European Russia European Russia European Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 square kilometres , larger in area than India, and spanning across 40% of Europe. Its eastern border is defined by the Ural Mountains and in the south it is defined by the border with... (except for the Kola Peninsula), Central Central Europe Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe... and Western Europe Western Europe Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the... |
algiricus (Thomas, 1895) alpestris (Burg, 1920) giganteus (Burg, 1920) major (Nilsson, 1820) |
| Junean stoat Mustela e. alascensis |
Merriam, 1896 | Similar to richardsonii, but with a broader skull and more extensive white tips on the limbs | Juneau, Alaska Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900... |
|
| Vancouver Island stoat Mustela e. anguinae |
Hall, 1932 | Vancouver Island Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794... |
||
| Tundra stoat Mustela e. arctica |
Merriam, 1826 | A large subspecies, with a dark-yellowish brown summer coat, a deep yellow underbelly and a massive skull. It resembles Eurasian stoat subspecies more closely than any other American subspecies | Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait... , northwestern Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... , Arctic archipelago except Baffin Island Baffin Island Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000... |
audax (Barrett-Hamilton, 1904) kadiacensis (Merriam, 1896) kadiacensis (Osgood, 1901) richardsonii (Bonaparte, 1838) |
| Mustela e. augustidens | Brown, 1908 | |||
| Western Great Lakes stoat Mustela e. bangsi |
Hall, 1945 | Region west of the Great Lakes Great Lakes The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume... |
cicognani (Mearns, 1891) pusillus (Aughey, 1880) |
|
| Mustela e. celenda | Hall, 1944 | |||
| Bonaparte's stoat Mustela e. cigognanii |
Bonaparte, 1838 | A small subspecies, with a dark brown summer coat. Its skull is more lightly built than that of richardsonii | Region north and east of the Great Lakes Great Lakes The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume... |
pusilla (DeKay, 1842) vulgaris (Griffith, 1827) |
| Mustela e. fallenda | Hall, 1945 | |||
| Fergana stoat Mustela e. ferghanae |
Thomas, 1895 | A small subspecies, with a very light, straw-brownish or greyish coat, which is short and soft. Light spots, sometimes forming a collar, are present on the neck. It does not turn white in winter | Montane Tien Shan and Pamir-Alaisk Pamir-Alay The Pamir-Alay is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, part of the Pamir Mountains. It stretches between the valleys of the rivers Syr Darya to its north and Vakhsh to its south... system, Afghanistan Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... , India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... , western Tibet Tibet Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people... and adjacent parts of Tien Shan China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... |
shnitnikovi (Ognev, 1935) whiteheadi (Wroughton, 1908) |
| Mustela e. gulosa | Hall, 1945 | |||
| Queen Charlotte stoat Mustela e. haidarum |
Preble, 1898 | Queen Charlotte Islands Queen Charlotte Islands Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of... |
||
| Irish stoat Mustela e. hibernica |
Thomas and Barrett-Hamilton, 1895 | Larger than aestiva, but smaller than stabilis. Distinguished by the irregular pattern on the dividing line between dark and pale fur on the flanks, though 13.5% of Irish stoats exhibit the more typical straight dividing line | Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth... , Isle of Man Isle of Man The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is... |
|
| Mustela e. initis | Hall, 1945 | |||
| Mustela e. invicta | Hall, 1945 | |||
| Kodiak stoat Mustela e. kadiacensis |
Merriam, 1896 | Kodiak Island Kodiak Island Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an... |
||
| East Siberian stoat Mustela e. kaneii |
Baird, 1857 | A moderately sized subspecies, smaller than tobolica, with close similarities to arctica. The colour of the summer coat is relatively light, with varying intensities of browning-yellow tinges | Eastern Siberia Siberia Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th... and the Russian Far East Russian Far East Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean... including Kamchatka, except the Amur Oblast Amur Oblast Amur Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , situated about east of Moscow on the banks of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. It shares its border with the Sakha Republic in the north, Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the east, People's Republic of China in the south, and Zabaykalsky... and Ussuriland, Transbaikalia and Sayan Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.The Eastern Sayan extends from the Yenisei River at 92° E to the southwest end of Lake Baikal at 106° E... |
baturini (Ognev, 1929) digna (Hall, 1944) kamtschatica (Dybowski, 1922) kanei (G. Allen, 1914) naumovi (Jurgenson, 1938) orientalis (Ognev, 1928) transbaikalica (Ognev, 1928) |
| Karaginsky stoat Mustela e. karaginensis |
Jurgenson, 1936 | A very small subspecies with a light chestnut coloured summer coat | Karaginsky Island Karaginsky Island Karaginsky Island or Karaginskiy Island is an island in the Karaginsky Gulf of the Bering Sea. The 40 km wide strait between the Kamchatka Peninsula and this island is called Litke Strait.... along the eastern coast of Kamchatka |
|
| Altai stoat Mustela e. lymani |
Hollister, 1912 | A moderately sized subspecies with less dense fur than tobolica. The colour of the summer coat consists of weakly developed reddish-brown tones. The skull is similar to that of aestiva | Mountains of southern Siberia eastwards to Baikal Baikal Baykal commonly refers to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia.Baykal or Baikal may also refer to:-Russia:*Baykal, Irkutsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement*Baykal, Aurgazinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village... and contiguous parts of Mongolia Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest... |
|
| Mustela e. martinoi | Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951 | birulai (Martino and Martino, 1930) |
||
| Swiss stoat Mustela e. minima |
Cavazza, 1912 | Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
||
| Gobi stoat Mustela e. mongolica |
Ognev, 1928 | Govi-Altai Province | ||
| Southwestern stoat Mustela e. muricus |
Bangs, 1899 | Southwestern extremity of the species' American range (Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its... , Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the... , Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains... and other states) |
leptus (Merriam, 1903) | |
| Japanese stoat Mustela e. nippon |
Cabrera, 1913 | Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
||
Mustela e. ognevi |
Jurgenson, 1932 | |||
| Olympic stoat Mustela e. olympica |
Hall, 1945 | Olympic Peninsula Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is the large arm of land in western Washington state of the USA, that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Puget Sound. Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous... , Washington |
||
| Polar stoat Mustela e. polaris |
Barrett-Hamilton, 1904 | Greenland Greenland Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for... |
||
| Richardson's stoat Mustela e. richardsonii |
Bonaparte, 1838 | Similar to cigognanii, but larger, with a dull chocolate brown summer coat | Newfoundland, Labrador Labrador Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle... and nearly all of Canada save for the territories of other stoat subspecies |
imperii (Barrett-Hamilton, 1904) microtis (J. A. Allen, 1903) mortigena (Bangs, 1913) |
| Hebrides stoat Mustela e. ricinae |
Miller, 1907 | Hebrides Hebrides The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive... |
||
| Mustela e. salva | Hall, 1944 | |||
| Mustela e. seclusa | Hall, 1944 | |||
| Baffin stoat Mustela e. semplei |
Sutton and Hamilton, 1932 | Baffin Land and adjacent parts of the mainland | labiata (Degerbøl, 1935) | |
| British stoat Mustela e. stabilis |
Barrett-Hamilton, 1904 | Larger than mainland European stoats | Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... , introduced to New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
|
| Mustela e. stratori | Merriam, 1896 | |||
| Caucasian stoat Mustela e. teberdina |
Korneev, 1941 | A small subspecies with coffee to reddish tawny summer coat | Northern slope of the middle part of the main Caucasus Caucasus The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea... range |
balkarica (Basiev, 1962) |
| Tobolsk stoat Mustela e. tobolica |
Ognev, 1923 | A large subspecies, somewhat larger than aestiva, with long and dense fur | Western Siberia, eastwards to the Yenisei and Altai and in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe... |
Build
The stoat is entirely similar to the least weaselLeast Weasel
The least weasel is the smallest member of the Mustelidae , native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, though it has been introduced elsewhere. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large population...
in general proportions, manner of posture and movement, though the tail is relatively longer, always exceeding a third of the body length, though it is shorter than that of the long-tailed weasel
Long-tailed Weasel
The long-tailed weasel , also known as the bridled weasel or big stoat is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America.-Evolution:The long-tailed weasel is the product of...
. The stoat has an elongated neck, the head being set exceptionally far in front of the shoulders. The trunk is nearly cylindrical, and does not bulge at the abdomen. The greatest circumference of body is little
more than half its length. The skull, although very similar to that of the least weasel, is relatively longer, with a narrower braincase. The projections of the skull and teeth are weakly developed, but stronger than those of the least weasel. The eyes are round, black and protrude slightly. The whiskers are brown or white in colour, and very long. The ears are short, rounded and lie almost flattened against the skull. The claws are non-retractable, and are large in proportion to the digits. Each foot has five toes. The male stoat has a curved baculum
Baculum
The baculum is a bone found in the penis of most mammals. It is absent in humans, but present in other primates, such as the gorilla and chimpanzee.The bone aids in sexual intercourse.-Purpose:...
with a proximal knob which increases in weight as it ages. Fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
is deposited primarily along the spine and kidneys, then on gut mesenteries, under the limbs and around the shoulders. The stoat has 4 pairs of nipples, though they are only visible in females.
The dimensions of the stoat are variable, but not to the extent as the least weasel. Unusually among the Carnivora, the size of stoats tends to decrease proportionally with latitude, in contradiction to Bergmann's Rule
Bergmann's Rule
Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographic principle that states that within a broadly distributed genus, species of larger size are found in colder environments, and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions. Although originally formulated in terms of species within a genus, it has often been...
. There is pronounced sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
in size, with males being 1.5-2.0 times the weight of females. On average, males measure 187–325 mm in body length, while females measure 170–270 mm. The tail measures 75–120 mm in males and 65–106 mm in females. In males, the hind foot measures 40.0-48.2 mm, while in females it is 37.0-47.6 mm. The height of the ear measures 18.0-23.2 mm in males and 14.0-23.3 mm. The skulls of males measure 39.3-52.2 mm in length, while those of females measure 35.7-45.8 mm. Males weigh 258 grams, while females weigh less than 180 grams.
The stoat has large anal scent gland
Scent gland
Scent glands are found in the genital area of most mammals and in various other parts of the body, such as the underarms of humans and the preorbital glands of deer and muskox. They produce a semi-viscous fluid which contains pheromones. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status,...
s measuring 8.5 x 5 mm in males and smaller in females. The glands produce a strong musky odour produced by several sulphuric compounds. Scent glands are also present on the cheeks, belly and flanks. Epidermal
Epidermis (zoology)
The Epidermis is an epithelium that covers the body of an eumetazoan . Eumetazoa have a cavity lined with a similar epithelium, the gastrodermis, which forms a boundary with the epidermis at the mouth.Sponges have no epithelium, and therefore no epidermis or gastrodermis...
secretions, which are deposited during body rubbing, are chemically distinct from the anal scent glands, which contain a higher proportion of volatile chemicals. When attacked or aggressive, the stoat excretes the contents of its anal glands, producing a strong, musky odour, which is distinct from that of least weasels.
Fur
The winter fur is very dense and silky, but quite closely lying and short, while the summer fur is rougher, shorter and sparse. In summer, the fur is sandy-brown on the back and head and a white below. The division between the dark back and the light belly is usually straight, though this trait is only present in 13.5% of Irish stoats. The stoat moults twice a year. In spring, the moult is slow, starting from the forehead across the back toward the belly. In autumn, the moult is quicker, progressing in reverse direction. The moult is initiated by photoperiod. The moult period starts earlier in autumn and later in spring at higher latitudes. In the stoat's northern range, it adopts a completely white coat (save for the black tail-tip) during the winter period. Differences in the winter and summer coats are less apparent in southern forms of the species. In the species' southern range, the coat remains brown, but is denser and sometimes paler than in summer.Reproduction and development
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
concentration in the plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...
. Spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis is the process by which male primary germ cells undergo division, and produce a number of cells termed spermatogonia, from which the primary spermatocytes are derived. Each primary spermatocyte divides into two secondary spermatocytes, and each secondary spermatocyte into two...
occurs in December, and the males are fertile from May–August, after which the testes regress. Stoats are not monogamous, with litters often being of mixed paternity. The gestation period
Gestation period
For mammals the gestation period is the time in which a fetus develops, beginning with fertilization and ending at birth. The duration of this period varies between species.-Duration:...
lasts circa 280 days. Males play no part in rearing the young, which are born blind, deaf, toothless and covered in fine white or pinkish down. The milk teeth erupt after 3 weeks, and solid food is eaten after 4 weeks. The eyes open after 5–6 weeks, with the black tail-tip appearing a week later. Lactation
Lactation
Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process occurs in all female mammals, however it predates mammals. In humans the process of feeding milk is called breastfeeding or nursing...
ends after 12 weeks. Prior to the age of 5–7 weeks, kits have poor thermoregulation
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different...
, thus the kits huddle for warmth when the mother is absent. Males become sexually mature at 10–11 months, while females are sexually mature at the age of 2–3 weeks whilst still blind, deaf and hairless, and are usually mated with adult males before being weaned
Weaning
Weaning is the process of gradually introducing a mammal infant, either human or animal, to what will be its adult diet and withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk...
.
Territorial and sheltering behaviours
Stoat territoriality has a generally mustelid spacing pattern, with male territories encompassing smaller female territories, which they defend from other males. The size of the territory and the ranging behaviour of its occupants varies seasonally, depending on the abundance of food and mates. During the breeding season, the ranges of females remain unchanged, while males either become roamers, strayers or transients. Dominant older males have territories 50 times larger than those of younger, socially inferior males. Both sexes mark their territories with urineUrine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
, faeces and two types of scent marks; anal drags meant to convey territorial occupancy and body rubbing, which is associated with agonistic encounters.
The stoat does not dig its own burrows, instead using the burrows and nest chambers of the rodents it kills. The skins and underfur of rodent prey are used to line the nest chamber. The nest chamber is sometimes located in seemingly unsuitable places, such as among logs piled against the walls of houses. The stoat also inhabits old and rotting stumps, under tree roots, in heaps of brushwood, haystacks, in bog hummocks, in the cracks of vacant mud buildings, in rock piles, rock clefts, and even in magpie
Magpie
Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...
nests. Males and females typically live apart, but close to each other. Each stoat has several dens dispersed within its range. A single den has several galleries, mainly within 30 cm of the surface.
Diet
As with the least weasel, mouse-like rodents predominate in the stoat's diet. However, unlike the least weasel which almost exclusively feeds on small voles, the stoat regularly preys on larger rodent and lagomorph species. In Russia, its prey includes rodents such as European water voles, common hamsters, pikaPika
The pika is a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and short tail. The name pika is used for any member of the Ochotonidae, a family within the order of lagomorphs, which also includes the Leporidae . One genus, Ochotona, is recognised within the family, and it includes 30 species...
s and others, which it overpowers in their burrows. Prey species of secondary importance include small bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and shrew
Shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...
s and, more rarely, amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. In Great Britain, European rabbit
European Rabbit
The European Rabbit or Common Rabbit is a species of rabbit native to south west Europe and north west Africa . It has been widely introduced elsewhere often with devastating effects on local biodiversity...
s are an important food source, with the frequency in which stoats prey on them having increased between the 1960s and mid 1990s since the end of the myxomatosis
Myxomatosis
Myxomatosis is a disease that affects rabbits and is caused by the Myxoma virus. It was first observed in Uruguay in laboratory rabbits in the late 19th century. It was introduced into Australia in 1950 in an attempt to control the rabbit population...
epidemic. Typically, male stoats prey on rabbits more frequently than females do, which depend to a greater extent on smaller rodent species. British stoats rarely kill shrews, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s and water voles, though rats may be an important food source locally. In Ireland, shrews and rats are frequently eaten. In mainland Europe, water voles make up a large portion of the stoat's diet. Hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
s are sometimes taken, but are usually young specimens. In North America, where the ecological niche
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
for rat and rabbit sized prey is taken by the larger long-tailed weasel, the stoat preys on mice, voles, shrews and young cottontails. In New Zealand, the stoat feeds principally on birds, including the rare kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
, kaka, mohua, yellow-crowned parakeet
Yellow-crowned Parakeet
The Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Cyanoramphus auriceps, is a species of parakeet endemic to the islands of New Zealand. The species is found across the main three islands of New Zealand, North Island, South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura, as well as on the subantarctic Auckland Islands...
and New Zealand dotterel
New Zealand Dotterel
The New Zealand Dotterel, Red-breasted Plover, or New Zealand Plover is an endangered species found only in certain areas of New Zealand. Its Māori names include Tūturiwhatu, Pukunui, and Kūkuruatu...
. Cases are known of stoats preying on young muskrat
Muskrat
The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
s. The stoat typically eats about 50 grams of food a day, which is equivalent to 25% of the animal's live weight.
The stoat is an opportunistic predator, which moves rapidly and checks every available burrow or crevice for food. Because of their larger size, male stoats are less successful than females in pursuing rodents far into tunnels. The stoat regularly climbs trees to gain access to bird's nests, and are common raiders of nest boxes, particularly those of large species. The stoat reputedly immobilises prey such as rabbits by mesmerising them with a "dance", though this behaviour could be linked to Skrjabingylus
Metastrongylidae
Metastrongylidae is a family of nematodes.Genera in the family Metastrongylidae include:* Aelurostrongylus*Metastrongylus*Skrjabingylus...
infections. When tackling large prey, the stoat bites the nape of the neck whilst grasping it with its forefeet, intertwines its body around the animal then scratches its lower body with its back feet. Contrary to popular belief, blood which flows from resulting wounds is not sucked, but lapped up. The stoat may surplus kill
Surplus killing
Surplus killing is the behavior predators exhibit when they kill more prey than they can immediately use. They may partially consume, cache, or abandon intact prey...
when the opportunity arises, though excess prey is usually cached and eaten later to avoid obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
, as overweight stoats tend to be at a disadvantage when pursuing prey into their burrows. Small prey typically die instantly from a bite to the back of the neck, while larger prey, such as rabbits, typically die of shock
Acute stress reaction
Acute stress reaction is a psychological condition arising in response to a terrifying or traumatic event...
, as the stoat's canine teeth are too short to reach the spinal column or major arteries.
Communication
The stoat is a usually silent animal, but can produce a range of sounds similar to those of the least weasel. Kits produce a fine chirping noise. Adults trill excitedly before mating, and indicate submission through quiet trilling, whining and squealing. When nervous, the stoat hisses, and will intersperse this with sharp barks or shrieks and prolonged screeching when aggressive.Aggressive behaviour in stoats is categorised in the following forms:
- Non-contact approach, which is sometimes accompanied by a threat display and vocalisation from the approached animal
- Forward thrust, accompanied by a sharp shriek, which is usually done by stoats defending a nest or retreat site
- Nest occupation, when a stoat appropriates the nesting site of a weaker individual
- Kleptoparasitism, in which a dominant stoat appropriates the kill of a weaker one, usually after a fight
Submissive stoats express their status by avoiding higher ranking animals, fleeing from them or making whining or squealing sounds.
Range and population
The stoat has a circumboreal range throughout North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, from Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and the Canadian and Siberian Arctic islands south to about 35°N. Stoats in North America are found throghout Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
south through most of the northern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to central California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, northern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, northern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The stoat in Europe is found as far south as 41ºN in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and inhabits most islands with the exception of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
, the Mediterranean islands and some small North Atlantic islands. In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, it is present in central mountains (northern and central Japan Alps) to northern part of Honshu
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
(primarily above 1,200 m) and Hokkaido. Its vertical range is from sea level to 3,000 m.
Introduction to New Zealand
Stoats were introduced into New Zealand during the late 19th century in order to control rabbits and hares, but are now a major threat to the native bird population. The introduction of stoats was opposed by scientists in New Zealand and Britain, including the New Zealand ornithologist Walter BullerWalter Buller
Walter Lawry Buller KCMG was a New Zealand lawyer, naturalist and ornithologist.Buller was the author of A History of the Birds of New Zealand , with illustrations by John Gerrard Keulemans. In 1882 he produced the Manual of the Birds of New Zealand as a cheaper, popular alternative...
. The warnings were ignored and stoats began to be introduced from Britain in the 1880s, thus resulting in a noticeable decline in bird populations within six years. Stoats are a serious threat to ground and hole nesting birds, since they have very little means of escaping predation. The highest rates of stoat predation occur after seasonal gluts in southern beechmast seeds, which encourage the reproduction of rodents which stoats also feed on, thus encouraging stoats to increase their own numbers. For instance, the endangered takahe
Takahe
The Takahē or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898...
's wild population dropped by a third between 2006 and 2007, after a stoat plague triggered by the 2005–06 mast
Mast (botany)
Mast is the "fruit of forest trees like acorns and other nuts". It is also defined as "the fruit of trees such as beech, and other forms of Cupuliferae". Alternatively, it can also refer to "a heap of nuts"....
wiped out more than half the takahe in untrapped areas.
Diseases and parasites
TuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
has been recorded in stoats inhabiting the former Soviet Union and New Zealand. The stoat is largely resistant to tularemia
Tularemia
Tularemia is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. A Gram-negative, nonmotile coccobacillus, the bacterium has several subspecies with varying degrees of virulence. The most important of those is F...
, and is reputed to suffer from canine distemper
Canine distemper
Canine distemper is a viral disease that affects animals in the families Canidae, Mustelidae, Mephitidae, Hyaenidae, Ailuridae, Procyonidae, Pinnipedia, some Viverridae and Felidae...
in captivity. Symptoms of mange
Mange
Mange is the common name for a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites. Since mites also infect plants, birds, and reptiles, the term "mange," suggesting poor condition of the hairy coat due to the infection, is sometimes reserved only for pathological...
have also been recorded.
Stoats are vulnerable to ectoparasites associated with their prey and the nests of other animals which they do not prey on. The louse
Louse
Lice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
Trichodectes erminea is recorded in stoats living in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. In continental Europe, 26 flea
Flea
Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
species are recorded to infest stoats. Flea species known to infest stoats include Rhadinospylla pentacantha, Megabothris rectangulatus, Orchopeas howardi, Spilopsyllus ciniculus, Ctenophthalamus nobilis, Dasypsyllus gallinulae
Moorhen flea
The moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae, originally from South America, is now a globally widespread flea species. It is a large flea, easily identified because the male has two heavy horn-like spines on one of the genital flaps, and the female has a deep "bite" on the seventh sternite.It is found...
, Nosopsyllus fasciatus
Northern rat flea
The northern rat flea is a species of flea that is found on domestic rats and house mice. Northern rat fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of rodents...
, Leptospylla segnis, Ceratophyllus gallinae, Parapsyllus n. nestoris, Amphipsylla kuznetzovi and Ctenopsyllus bidentatus. Tick
Tick
Ticks are small arachnids in the order Ixodida, along with mites, constitute the subclass Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians...
species known to infest stoats are Ixodes canisuga, I. hexagonus
Ixodes hexagonus
Ixodes hexagonus is a tick species in the genus Ixodes. It is a parasite of the European Hedgehog....
, and I. ricinus
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, is a chiefly European species of hard-bodied tick. It may reach a length of when engorged with a blood meal, and can transmit both bacterial and viral pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.-Description:In common...
and Haemaphysalis longicornis
Haemaphysalis longicornis
Haemaphysalis longicornis is a species of tick. Lyme spirochetes and spotted fever group rickettsiae have been detected in H. longicornis, as have Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Anaplasma bovis....
. Louse
Louse
Lice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
species known to infest stoats include Mysidea picae and Polyplax spinulosa
Polyplax spinulosa
Polyplax spinulosa is a sucking louse from the genus Polyplax. It occurs worldwide and commonly infects its type host, the brown rat , and related species like the black rat , Rattus pyctoris, Rattus nitidus, Rattus argentiventer, Rattus tanezumi, Rattus exulans, and Bandicota indica...
. Mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
species known to infest stoats include Neotrombicula autumnalis
Neotrombicula
Neotrombicula is a subgenus of mites in the family Trombiculidae. The species of this family are found throughout North America...
, Demodex erminae, Eulaelaps stabulans
Eulaelaps
Eulaelaps is a genus of mites in the family Haemogamasidae.-Species:* Eulaelaps arboricola Uchikawa, 1978* Eulaelaps dremomydis Gu & Wang, 1984* Eulaelaps feideri * Eulaelaps heptacanthus Yang & Gu, 1985...
, Gymnolaelaps annectans, Hypoaspis nidicorva Listrophorus mustelae.
The nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
Skrjabingylus is particularly serious to stoats, as it erodes the bones of the nasal sinuses and decreases fertility. One symptom includes fits, which may explain the "dancing" behaviour usually associated with hunting. Other nematode species known to infect stoats include Capillaria putorii
Capillaria (genus)
Capillaria is a genus of nematodes in the family Trichinellidae. Some species formerly placed in this genus are now classified in Aonchotheca.-Species:Species in the genus Capillaria include:* Capillaria aerophila*Capillaria gastrica...
, Molineus patens and Strongyloides martes. Cestode species known to infect stoats include Taenia tenuicollis
Taenia (tapeworm)
Taenia is a genus of tapeworm that includes some important parasites of livestock. Members of the genus are responsible for taeniasis and cysticercosis in humans. There are more than 100 species recorded...
, Mesocestoides lineatus and rarely Acanthocephala
Acanthocephala
Acanthocephala is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephales, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an evertable proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to pierce and hold the gut wall of its host...
.
Relationships with humans
In folklore and mythology
In Irish mythologyIrish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
, stoats were viewed anthrophomorphically
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
as animals with families, which held rituals for their dead. They were also viewed as noxious animals prone to thieving and their saliva was said to be able to poison a grown man. To encounter a stoat when setting out for a journey was considered bad luck, but one could avert this by greeting the stoat as a neighbour. Stoats were also supposed to hold the souls of infants who died before baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
. In the folklore of the Komi peoples
Komi peoples
The Komi people is an ethnic group whose homeland is in the north-east of European Russia around the basins of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama rivers. They mostly live in the Komi Republic, Perm Krai, Murmansk Oblast, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Russian...
, stoats are symbolic of beautiful and coveted young women. In the Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
religion, the stoat is considered a sacred animal, as its white winter coat represented purity. Similarly, Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
was depicted as wearing a white stoat pelt as a sign of her reformed character. One popular European legend had it that a white stoat would die before allowing its pure white coat to be besmirched. When it was being chased by hunters, it would supposedly turn around and give itself up to the hunters rather than risk soiling itself.
Fur use
Stoat skins are prized by the fur trade, especially in winter coat, and used to trim coats and stoles. The fur from the winter coat is referred to as ermine. There is also a design, also called ermineErmine (heraldry)
Ermine is a heraldic fur representing the winter coat of the stoat . Many skins would be sewn together to make a luxurious garment, producing a pattern of small black spots on a white field...
, which is inspired by the winter coat of the stoat but which is painted onto other furs, such as rabbit. In Europe these furs are a symbol of royalty and high status; the ceremonial robes of members of the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and the academic hoods
Academic dress
Academic dress or academical dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, primarily tertiary education, worn mainly by those that have been admitted to a university degree or hold a status that entitles them to assume them...
of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally trimmed with ermine although in practice rabbit or fake fur is now often used instead due to expense and/or animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
issues. Prelates of the Catholic Church still wear ecclesiastical garments featuring ermine (a sign of their status equal to that of the nobility). Cecilia Gallerani
Cecilia Gallerani
Cecilia Gallerani , born in Siena, Italy, was the favourite and most celebrated of the many mistresses of Ludovico Sforza, known as Lodovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. She is best known as the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Lady with an Ermine...
is depicted holding an ermine in her portrait, "Lady with an Ermine
Lady with an Ermine
Lady with an Ermine is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, from around 1489–1490. The subject of the portrait is identified as Cecilia Gallerani, and was probably painted at a time when she was the mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Leonardo was in the service of the Duke.The painting is...
". Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham is the name shared by two English Renaissance writers who were father and son.The elder Henry Peacham was an English curate, best known for his treatise on rhetoric titled The Garden of Eloquence first published in 1577....
's Emblem 75, which depicts an ermine being pursued by a hunter and two hounds, is entitled "Cui candor morte redemptus" or "Purity bought with his own death". Peacham goes on to preach that men and women should follow the example of the ermine and keep their minds and consciences as pure as the legendary ermine keeps its fur. The stoat was a fundamental item in the fur trade of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, with no less than half the global catch coming from within its borders. The Soviet Union also contained the highest grades of stoat pelts, with the best grade North American pelts being comparable only to the 9th grade in the quality criteria of former Soviet stoat standards. However, stoat harvesting never became a specialty in any Soviet republic, with most stoats being captured incidentally in traps or near villages. Stoats in the Soviet Union were captured either with dogs or with box-traps or jaw-traps. Guns were rarely used, as they could damage the skin.
Further reading
- The Natural History of Weasels and Stoats: Ecology, Behavior and Management. 2nd Edition.(2007). Carolyn M. King and Roger A. Powell. Oxford University Press. ISBN- 13 978-0-19-530056-7