The Stoat is one of the fiercest predators and is active
by day and by night, it relentlessly tracks it's prey by scent, and
apparently it licks the blood off it's prey's fur leading to the
old wives tale that it sucks blood. The victim is killed by pouncing
on it and biting deeply into the back of the neck near the base of
the skull. It was virtually driven to extinction in the 1950's when
myxomatosis was introduced, as rabbits are it's main sources of prey.
It was only the fact that stoats eat many other types of prey even
insects that it was able to survive. A stoats hunting ground is usually
about 50 acres although it can be more if prey is scarce. Like it's
relations it's den is a rock crevice or a disused rabbit burrow and
it normally lives alone. In winter the coat of the stoat turns white
(see below) all except for the tip of it's tail which is black (it
is said to be in ermine). This is the fur fur that This colour change
depends on the length of the days. In Northern Scotland the change
is complete with the stoat having a creamy coloured coat, whilst
down in Southern England the animal remains brown with creamy white
under parts. Like the weasel the margin between the brown and the
white is different in every animal. Stoats are legally protected
in Eire but not in the United Kingdom. Stoats don't like to be out
in the open and so tend to hunt along ditches, hedgerows and walls
or through meadows and marshes. They search each likely area systematically,
often running in a zig-zag pattern.
Biology:
Size: head and body, about
25cm, tail 76mm or more. Females may be 50% smaller than male. In
North America they are quite a lot larger. Weight: 140 - 445g.
Life-span: average one to
one and a half years. Can live up to 7 years.
Breeding: Stoats are solitary
animals and only socialise with each other in the breeding season.
Mating occurs July to mid-August, but the fertilised eggs within
the female do not begin developing until up to 10 months later, so
that the female does not give birth until the following spring around
April or May. This is called delayed implantation and is the same
as the delay with the Pine Marten.
Litter Size: Some sources
say 3-4 some sources say 6-12. For sake of argument let us say that
the litter size is 3-12 then that covers all the bases.
The eyes of the young or kittens do not open
until they are about a month old and they are covered in fine white
fur with it being thicker at the scruff of the neck so that the mother
can carry them with out her teeth penetrating the skin. weaning takes
place at 6-8 weeks and at about 6 weeks old the black tip appears
at the end of their tails. Like the other members of this genus they
stay together as a family for about a month before going their own
way.
The ceromonial ermine cloak worn by medieval kings
and queens was made from ermine. Because of its white coloring, the
ermine is a symbol of moral purity and innocence. Its fur is attached
to the robes and mozettas of various dignitaries, including those
of the Roman Catholic Church, as a reminder of the purity and innocence
their office requires in motive, discipline, behavior, and teaching.
Like other white creatures, this carnivore is a symbol of Christ's
innocence. Because its coat turns brown in the summer, the white
ermine seems to die in the spring and be reborn in the winter. Therefore
it is a symbol of Christ's Resurrection.
In the past, the ermine was believed to be an amphibious
creature which preferred death to the soiling of its fur. According
to Aelian, ermine, falling into a mud puddle, would immediately die
of horror. Another myth was that hunters easily caught ermine by
smearing mud on the entrances of the creatures' homes. Rather than
sully their coats, by running through the dirty entranceway, the
ermine, exhausted by the chase and unable to escape the hounds, would
wait outside their homes for the hunters to kill them. Thus the ermine
became associated with phrases such as "Death before Dishonor." This
animal appears on coats of arms as the emblem of knights who would
perform any unpleasant deed and suffer any hardship, including death,
rather than stain their reputation or conscience.
This pattern was imitated in heraldry, as early as
the second half of the 12th c., and came to be one of the two main
furs. Its appearance is a white field with a regular pattern or semy
of ermine spots. The shape of the spot varied over time and place,
although its standard form nowadays is that of 3 dots arranged in
triangle, with a kind of tail extending downward and flaring out.
The spot itself is a charge, and can be used on its own, in specified
numbers, or to form a design. Below are a couple of examples of the
ermine displayed on a shield.
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