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The stoat may look cute and cuddly, but any creature that tangles with this predator is in for a painful bite. This creature is small but makes up for its size with ferocity and stamina. The stoat constantly stays on the hunt; it tirelessly chases prey and wrestles victims several times its own size to the ground. The end comes with a series of bites to the prey's neck.

Long Run: When the stoat chases prey, it hardly ever stops. This creature chases animals twice its size until the victim tires. With a surge of energy, the stoat delivers a killer bite to the neck with its sharp canine teeth.

Free to Roam: This fierce mammal hunts for up to 45 minutes nonstop, takes a quick nap, goes on the hunt again, takes another nap, and repeats this cycle over and over again throughout the day and night. Such an energetic lifestyle helps the stoat cover more than six square miles of territory every day. Once this predator wipes an area clean of prey, it searches for new hunting grounds.

Dance of Death[]

Stoat Back Image

The stoat chows down after successfully chasing down and killing a rabbit.

When the stoat runs out of rabbits and rodents to chase, it turns its teeth on birds. This clever predator lures birds to the ground by "dancing”—literally hopping around on its hind legs and wiggling its head. Curious birds fly down to watch, and the stoat pounces as soon as they come within range. Scientists think the stoat originally used this dance to relieve itself of skin parasites by shaking them off.

Big & Small: Even though they're all the same species, stoats can vary greatly in size around the world. Stoats in Europe can reach lengths of 20 inches, but North American stoats are only about a foot long.

Good Taste: Some think that stoats like to suck blood from their victims, like vampire bats. This myth arose from the creature's habit of licking blood from the wounds it inflicts on prey before it eats.

Rabbit Run![]

  1. Hungry for a big bounty of meat, a stoat creeps up on a grazing rabbit. The stoat crouches on its legs and jumps onto the victim from six feet away.
  2. The stoat goes immediately for the rabbit's neck. The predator bites repeatedly as the rabbit tries to shake the stoat off its back.
  3. The rabbit breaks free and leaps away, but the hunter is close behind. The stoat doesn't give up chasing its prey until the victim collapses from exhaustion.

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Trivia[]

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