Stoat outside Kilchoman Cottages (3), Isle of Islay The Stoat I spotted in the gardens of Kilchoman Cottages is worth another picture, here it seems to be checking out the flowers in the flower bed…

ALT: Cute Weasel Stoat in Heart Locket

ALT: Robert E Fuller's Cute Stoat Kit Yawning

ALT: Cute Stoat Pops Up in Snow

ALT: Stoat Stoat Saturday

Orkney conservationists search for predator in quest to protect native wildlife.

ALT: Robert E Fuller's Cute Stoat Kit Yawning

ALT: Cute Stoat Pops Up in Snow

Alt: a stoat in its winter coat hopping through snow

The stoat, weighs between 100 and 400 grams depending on sex and season. It regularly kills European rabbits that weigh up to 2 kilograms, and it has been documented killing mountain hares weighing over 3 kilograms. The prey is often ten times the predator's body weight, and the stoat kills it with a single precise bite to the base of the skull. The technique is not brute force. It is anatomy. The stoat's skull is narrow enough to fit between the vertebrae at the back of a rabbit's skull, and the canine teeth are positioned to sever the spinal cord or brainstem in a single bite.