Stoat ID Guide Territory

Field Signs Have you spotted

Scat: Appears elongated and thin. It is a stoat? twisted and tapers at both ends. Deposited singly, often contain fragments of bone or fur, Stoats are a serious threat to Orkney’s and sometime insect remains. Has a musky native wildlife smell. Often in conspicuous positions to mark Stoat ID Guide territory. All sightings are important to us, they give us an insight into the distribution of stoats across (Mustela erminea) Orkney. Please let us know if you have seen a stoat dead or alive

Remember to include the date, time and 6 figure grid reference if possible

Phone: 01856 886 163 Stoats in Orkney E-mail: [email protected]

Footprints: 5 toes per foot, non-retractable claws. Can be mistaken for rat but if a line from the first to fourth toe crosses in front of the footpad, as shown below, it is a stoat.

Front cover: Richard Steele, Summer stoat and back cover: MichaelFlowers, Ermine stoat: Sergei Golyshev, Orkney vole: Emma Neave-Webb. The RSPB is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654.

Stoats are not native to Orkney and were Diet: Stoats are generalist predators. They Lifespan: Up to 5 years, exceptionally 6-8. first recorded here in 2010. They are a mainly eat small mammals, birds and eggs. Typically 1-2 years. serious threat to Orkney’s native wildlife. They are voracious hunters capable of taking

prey much bigger than themselves. They are Behaviour: Stoats are territorial and It is important to report sightings of stoats messy eaters and often store food. Stoats need solitary, the exception being a few weeks in in Orkney. Here’s how to identify one: to eat a quarter of their body weight daily, this spring when females can be observed with roughly equates to an Orkney vole a day per Elongated body up to 32cm long, males kits. Males will range further in spring to find stoat. slightly larger than females. partners. Stoats are capable swimmers.

Long tails, at least a third as long as body. Ecological Impact: Stoats occupy a wide-range of Habitat: Orkney voles are SUMMER: Brown with a pale chest. habitats, and have been recorded across endemic, meaning most of Orkney Mainland.

they only exist in Orkney. Stoats Range and Conservation Status: readily predate Globally, stoats have a wide distribution them, reducing their including North America, Europe and Asia. population. Birds In Orkney, stoats are outside their natural such as hen harriers and short-eared owls also range and are classed as an invasive take Orkney voles, particularly when feeding non-native species. young, so their populations are likely to suffer

through competition with stoats for food. Stoats WINTER: May turn white (ermine) or Confusion Species: partially white. Sometimes remain brown. also pose a huge threat to Orkney's many Rats: Stoats may be confused for rats if ground nesting bird species, as they will eat their eggs and chicks. you only catch a brief glimpse as they are

similar in size. Remember to look for the Reproduction: Females are nearly always stoats’ black tip to their tail and the pregnant. Males enter nursery dens in early distinctive bounding gait.

summer and mate with the female adult and Weasels: Tails have no black tip and are young (kits). Stoats have delayed implantation shorter compared to their body size. They so postpone their pregnancy. They have a Always have a black tip to the tail are slightly smaller than stoats. Weasels do gestation period of four weeks and give birth to not occur in Orkney. Move with a distinctive bounding gait a large litter of 6-12 kits the following spring.