Question for the wildlife experts

[Lady Whistledown]

Hey: it beats talking about the Albion right now.

I was just driving home, down a country lane somewhere round Hurstpierpoint, when a small, unidentified furry creature ran out of the hedgerow and dashed across the road into the undergrowth. For a split second, I thought it was a small squirrel, as it was about the right size, but then it dawned on me that this thing was reddish-brown in colour, and as far as I know, there ain't any red squirrels around these parts.

So what was it? It wasn't a rat (too long in the body/tail), or a mouse (too big) or a vole, shrew or anything of that ilk. Could it have been a weasel or a stoat maybe? Never seen either in the flesh so I've no idea how big they are, nor do I have a clue as to whether they're common (or even exist) in West Sussex.

Thanks in anticipation, and no, I didn't run it over

 

[Dan Aitch]

The lesser-spotted Albion goalscorer.

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

I'm gonna say fox cub.

 

[TomandJerry]

Gus Poyet?

 

[The Oldman]

Stoat or Weasel are both common in these parts.This may help

http://www.wildlifebritain.com/stoatorweasel.php

 

[glasfryn]

they move very fast
weasel would be my bet

 

[wellquickwoody]

Weasel, stoat, ferret? I have seen at least one of these in Sussex, but have no clue how to tell them apart.

Was it smiling happily as it ran around? Could it be CMS?

 

[Prince Monolulu]

Theres is weasels round them parts

 

[jevs]

Would've said a Stoat or a Weasel. Stoats are slightly bigger. Fairly unusual to see them but they are around.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Was it smiling happily as it ran around? Could it be CMS?

Nah, it juggled a football with immense control as it ran.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Well, there you go. I reckon from that link above it would have been a weasel.

Thanks, folks I had no idea we even had these things in leafy Mid Sussex. I'm quite inordinately thrilled to have seen it actually!

 

[Lady Whistledown]

The lesser-spotted Albion goalscorer.

About as common in Sussex as the Gilded Unicorn & the Great Crested Dodo.

 

[Prince Monolulu]

Not astride a hummingbird whilst looking rather smug was it?

 

[The Oldman]

On my walks over Seaford Head I usually see a stoat about 6 times in a year. One memorable moment was watching a big mother rabbit chasing a stoat away from her young. The stoat was screaming with fear as it ran for its life! Like Edna I have seen them run out into the road when in the car and boy do they run. Much faster than say a rat.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

On my walks over Seaford Head I usually see a stoat about 6 times in a year. One memorable moment was watching a big mother rabbit chasing a stoat away from her young. The stoat was screaming with fear as it ran for its life! Like Edna I have seen them run out into the road when in the car and boy do they run. Much faster than say a rat.

Honestly, I've never seen one before, hence my confusion as to whether they actually lived round these parts. It was like greased lightning, just shot over the road in the sunshine, and scarpered into the hedgerow. I'm genuinely excited about it

I think my getting excited about wildlife sightings is a sign of getting old, by the way. I was working the other day when I spotted an absolutely huge buzzard sat on a fencepost around the Haywards Heath ring road. I've seen plenty in the air, but never one that big, or that close up. It must have been almost a foot tall. I made my colleague turn the car around twice so we could keep coming back and admiring it

 

[Dr Q]

Its simple:

A Weasel is Weasily Identifiable, whilst a Stoat is Stoatally different.

(someone had to say it)

 

[Notters]

Interesting, I saw the same yesterday on the C7. Field Vole I reckon. But could also have been a Stoat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_vole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Great_Britain

 

[Lord Bracknell]

We had a nest of woats or steasels in a woodpile in our garden last year. Delightful creatures.

 

[Prince Monolulu]

A relation to the above, kid in our class at Balfour in 70s used to bring his polecat in to school on a lead. Vicious little beggar.

 

[aberllefenni]

I had a similar sighting on the back roads of Herefordshire a couple of years ago. What I initially thought was a young red squirrel was, on reflection, probably a weasel or stoat. The last time I saw a red squirrel was in Ashdown Forest in the early 70's.