NEWS!!!!

Mustela erminea

The stoat can be distinquished from the weasel, as the stoat is larger and has a black tip to its tail.

These excellent hunters often forage along hedgrows and ditches, systematically searching for prey in zig-zag patterns.

If you do see a stoats, or any mammal, please do let us and the local record centre know.

We need to know WHAT you saw, WHERE and WHEN you saw it and WHO you are. Records can be sent direct to ERCCIS here.

What are mammals?

Mammals are a class (i.e. group) of animals that are characterised by several features, which together make them distinct from other living things.

These features are:

The production of milk for their offspring. This is produced by modified sweat glands or mammary glands (hence the name mammals!)
The presence of sweat glands. These help the warm-blooded mammals to keep cool.
At least some hair or fur during part of their life. Even dolphins have some facial hair when first born.
Three middle ear bones, known as the stirrup, anvil and hammer. Before mammals evolved these bones were part of the jaw.
A single lower jaw bone.
A diaphragm, which is a sheet of muscle that separates the lungs and heart from the abdomen with the intestines, liver, kidneys etc.
Heart with only one main artery that curves to the left.