Was this a weasel or a stoat?

[wildpiglet]

Hi there,

Yesterday I was walking with my terrier on grassy farmland in North Lancashire when suddenly a tiny creature appeared on the other side of a fence. It looked like a weasel (or stoat), but it had a brown head and a white body.

It crossed the fence into the field that my dog and I were walking in, but fortunately it was much faster than my dog! It raced around in the grass and bushes, losing the dog, and eventually dashed down a hole. From that position of safety it popped up its little head and stared back towards me, just like one of the meercats I've seen on television!

I'm now wondering what this is likely to have been. I've never known the differences between ferrets, stoats and weasels. I'd say it was probably about 12 inches long, and very slim. I assumed that it must be starting to shed a white winter coat from the head downwards, but that's just a guess.

I've looked around online to try to find the answer, and the pictures I've seen suggest to me that it's more likely to have been a weasel than a stoat, because I don't really remember it having a very pointed muzzle. Having said that, I was so astounded to be watching it running up and down that I may have misremembered the precise shape of its face.

Can anybody shed any light on it?

Many thanks for any help.

[Tracey.A]

It's a stoat

[Farplace]

At about 12 inches long it would be a stoat.

[Tracey.A]

Sorry, didn't realize it was your first posting. Welcome to WAB, it's a brilliant site, with lots of lovely people. Enjoy!

[wildpiglet]

Many thanks to both of you

Does that fact that its head was brown mean that it's begun to moult back into its summer coat?

[loripo]

This thread has some good info...
advice please

and that great quote about a weasel being weasily identified

[wildpiglet]

Many thanks loripo

Unfortunately I didn't spot a black tail tip, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one there.

[tigertom]

Originally Posted by wildpiglet

Many thanks to both of you

Does that fact that its head was brown mean that it's begun to moult back into its summer coat?

HI and wecome to WAB, A most of the stoats in britain keep their brown coats throughout the winter they genially only moult into their white or ermine coats in those part of their range that gets regularly snow covered in the winter
MIKE

[britnik]

Weasels are weasily wecognised while stoats are stoatally different.

I'll get me coat

[Brocakat]

Stoats are the ones which have the Ermine /white coat in winter. and why they are also known as Ermine.

I also remember the difference, becuase it's stoaTs that have black Tips to their Tails. "T.T.T."