What critter did I nearly run over this morning?

[plasticpig]

Nearly ran over small brown critter today which was feeding on a dead pheasant in the middle of the road. It was about the same sort of size as a squirrel but without the bushy tail and thinner. Definitely wasn't a brown rat. I am guessing it was a stoat or weasel but I thought stoats turned white in winter? Anything else it could be?

[GWC]

A Mink?

[Nightmare]

how small? wizzels look like furry string most of the time...proper small. mink, stoats etc are a good bit bigger. colour change isnt a definitive here either...so you can probbly decide what you most wanted to see an decide it was that! sure it wasnt a puma?

id guess wizzel

[digger the goat]

If it was the size of a squirrel, it most certainly was not a weasel.
They grow to 6-8 inches long at the most and are a reddish colour..... not brown.
Probably a stoat as mink, polecat (which it wasn't) and ferret are much larger than squirrels.

[plasticpig]

I will go with stoat then. It did look quit a bit like a stoat as I have seen them before but only in the summer. I always thought they put on nice white coats for winter though. Apparently this is not necessarily the case.

[shovelheadrob]

A weasel is easily identified whereas a stoat is totally different. HTH

[burntout]

Could have been a pine martin?? Where abouts geographically were you??

[evilmunkey]

More than likely a mink. they are becoming a real problem after loads being released from mink farms by Animal liberation types. They have bred like wildfire up and down England and will eat pretty much anything. Loads of them around the river wharf between Otley and pool bank here in west yorks.

[digger the goat]

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/h...

[OzzyR1]

A rat that lost it's tail from the last time it was eating roadkill and didn't get out of the way fast enough?

[Nickyboy]

Honey Badger?

[mybrainhurts]

Anorexic hippo..?

[plasticpig]

Reckon it was too small for a mink and not in an area that has pine martins.

[mybrainhurts]

Frog..?

[mybrainhurts]

Couldn't have been my mother in law, 'cos she's dead...

[BlackVanDyke]

Weasels are mouse diameter, and stoats are rabbit diameter, roughly speaking. You were VERY lucky if you saw a weasel! They're absolutely nuts little creatures, furry snakes really.

[Hooli]

A bit O/T - Met our mate's Ferret the other night. It's a barmy little thing that likes to chase the cats & dogs

[Nightmare]

BlackVanDyke said:

Weasels are mouse diameter, and stoats are rabbit diameter, roughly speaking. You were VERY lucky if you saw a weasel! They're absolutely nuts little creatures, furry snakes really.

Hey Becks, last year when our for a walk we saw a mummy weasel taking 3 babies across a road. Careful look both directions and then off they went - was very cool!

[BlackVanDyke]

Nightmare said:

BlackVanDyke said:

Weasels are mouse diameter, and stoats are rabbit diameter, roughly speaking. You were VERY lucky if you saw a weasel! They're absolutely nuts little creatures, furry snakes really.

Hey Becks, last year when our for a walk we saw a mummy weasel taking 3 babies across a road. Careful look both directions and then off they went - was very cool!

Ha! That's properly awesome. I've only seen weasels in the wild twice and both times they were pissing off into the undergrowth at a great rate of knots.

[mybrainhurts]

Hooli said:

A bit O/T - Met our mate's Ferret the other night. It's a barmy little thing that likes to chase the cats & dogs

Did you have a go with your trousers?