I was driving home today and to my amazement what looked like a stoat or weasel crossed the road infront of me dragging a dead rabbit behind it. I don't know how to tell the difference between the two, does anyone know what this was most likely to be?

The rabbit wasn't that small, it was about the same size as the animal.

Stoats are actually the same thing as a short-tailed weasel! Did the animal you saw have rich reddish brown fur, with a creamy white belly, and a black tip to the tail? That's an ermine=stoat=short-tailed weasel. There's also a long tailed weasel.

The males are larger than the females, and so eat larger prey. They run about 30cm (just under one foot) in length for the males.

Kingfisher

Thought I'd get this one in before anyone else:

A weasel's weasily recognisable, while a stoat's stotally different!

The black tip to the tail is the giveaway.

I like that one, haven't heard it before!

I've never seen a weasel with its food before, I didn't realise they ate prey that was so large compared to themselves.

The following info is taken from the British Wildlife Centre website:

A member of the weasel family (Mustelids), STOATS are found throughout mainland Britain in a variety of habitats. Their appearance is similar to the weasel, although the stoat is considerably larger and has a distinctive black tip to its tail. In the north their winter coat is white.
Their primary food source is the rabbit, despite being many times its own weight, supplemented with small rodents and birds. The number of stoats in the wild is usually linked to the rabbit population but in recent years their numbers have declined somewhat.

The WEASEL is the smallest member of the Mustelid family and Britain's smallest carnivore. It is smaller than the stoat and has no black tip to its tail, although it does have small white patches under its chin and throat.
It is widespread and common on mainland Britain but absent from Ireland. Like the stoat it is still persecuted by gamekeepers.
The weasel may travel up to 2.5 km on a hunting expedition. It climbs well and will often raid birds nests, taking the eggs and young. When ratting, its courage is even greater than the stoat's. Female weasels are considerably smaller than males, but both are small enough to pursue rats, mice and even field voles in their own tunnels.

I'd say that it was definitely a stoat that you saw.

Thanks for the info everyone and the quick replies. It sounds like I saw a stoat then, I didn't see the black tail but it was quite large and the giveaway seems to be the rabbit it was carrying.

Sorry I have still not grasped the difference apart from the black tip on the tail. Are they the same colour?

Have a look at the following pics, taken the day I snapped the young fox. This stoat/weasel crossed our path & then stood there just as I managed to get a shot of it. I know it isn't very good that's why I have never posted it, but I have included an enlargement.So if you can make it out which is it?

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This post was last modified: 11-07-2007 03:43 PM by tibbar.

They look similar but the stoat is larger than the weasel.

It's difficult to tell from that picture because I can't really see the size properly, but I would guess that is a weasel as it looks small.

I agree with riana, tibbar14, your photos appear to show a weasel, rather than a stoat.

I had an excellent view of a stoat/ermine/short-tailed weasel whilst on holiday in British Columbia (the Mustela erminea is circumpolar in distribution). The particular subspecies I saw was a lovely brown on top, with an almost orange coloured fur underneath. Very distinctive, and unmistakable. The lighter coloured underbelly runs the entire length of the animal, rather than just a few patches under the chin.

Kingfisher

I had the great joy to have seen a weasel just a few weeks ago whilst I was out for a walk at Malham Tarn.

I was actually looking for birds nest along a pathway, when this orange 'streak' caught my eye and I only just managed an action shot of it sprinting along this stone wall (it's right in the middle!).

I think you did well to get a picture of it at all Caz, they can move fast when they want to.

I also agree with Kingfisher and Riana, that picture looks like a weasel to me simply because of the size.

Do immature stoats have the black tail? Because I would imagine it would be hard to distinguise between an immature stoat and a weasel if they don't.