What is this? has a black snout and black tail end. <edit: more than likely a stoat>

thekooman

hi all,
wife was getting ready for work this morning and looked out the window to see what is a very brown animal, bigger than a cat eating from the rat poison bait box beside our garage.
i didn't get chance to get the EOS SLR out to get a better pic but got one of th k850i phone....see attached.
it has a black snout, brown throughout with a black tip on its tail. it looked like it had a whit-ish patch under its neck.
could it be a male pine martin?
we had problems with something attacking our bins in our garage so its definitely this.

its too big for mink i would think. my friend caught a pine martin a few weeks ago... it was living in the roof of a derelict house and its colouring was totally different. but there are similarities(spelling!).
if i set a cage trap tonight (my friend has 2!) with some fish in it and he is in it tomorrow should i contact the local ranger to move it?
if i don't do something i think the wife will be totally paranoid about going outside the house!! :rolleyes:

advice would be great.

sorella

Pine martens are a protected species.

Check with the authorities, please.

They are very territorial and also very timid.

They are beautiful creatures and will do no one any harm. I lived alongside one for some years and counted it an honour to do so.

They will eat from bins; good lids are needed thus.

If it has eaten rat poison it is doomed anyway, as is any other wild creature. or anyone's cat or dog that happens along. Poisons should not be left like that.

At this time of year, a female will be feeding young; leave food out for her where she can get it and she will be helped greatly. If you leave it away from the house she will not need to come nearer and will not want to. The one we fed had previously used the chimney when the house was empty, but was very happy to eat elsewhere then.

Please do not trap at this time of year; if she has young they will die.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Why have you rat bait in a box that can be accessed in this way?

Paranoid about rats I can understand but Stoats, Pine Martens etc?

The photo doesn't really help and the black snout is confusing. The black tip to the tail and white patch suggest a Stoat but the size seems wrong.

What reason/authority had your friend to trap a Pine Marten?

You should contact your local Ranger but he'll not be too pleased at the trapping and poisoning going on.

thekooman

Lillian Cool Stock-still wrote: »

Why have you rat bait in a box that can be accessed in this way?

Paranoid about rats I can understand but Stoats, Pine Martens etc?

i bought it in the local co-op as a rat bait box; how am i to know that its not pine marten(if it is that) 'friendly'!

Lillian Cool Stock-still wrote: »

What reason/authority had your friend to trap a Pine Marten?

the house was been knocked.... was he to kill the pine marten with the digger? it was released in a local wood.

so from besides the lectures (i've lived in the country all my life;i know between bad and good!) anyone recognise what it is?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Many of us have lived in the country all our lives; it doesn't mean we do the right thing all the time. If a Pine marten is in danger then you contact a Wildlife Ranger! Would you remove a colony of Bats yourselves as well??
I know many country people who have carried out unspeakably illegal, cruel, and destructive acts against wildlife.
You asked for advice - I gave it. It wasn't what you wanted - fair enough. But, it was correct advice!

thekooman

cheers Srameen for the advice; its all meant good i know. I won't be harming anything that isn't going to attack me.

anyhows, i did a google image search for a stoat; similarities are the colour of the coat, the black tail tip and the white on the neck but hell this thing is way bigger than a stoat; maybe its eating my neighbours cattle feed!

the black snout and the size are the odd parts. comparing it to the pine martin it looks bigger but i was upstairs in the house looking at it.

thekooman

sorella wrote: »

If it has eaten rat poison it is doomed anyway, as is any other wild creature. or anyone's cat or dog that happens along. Poisons should not be left like that.

hi Sorella,
looking at the bait box they didn't seem to get anything out of it. i had a block left on it so they didn't move it. plus, the bait box has been there for the last few months and they keep returning.
just to put ur mind at ease

Kaldorn

hi,

Could you please get another pic of the animal if you leave out some sardines on a plate or some dog food further awayy from the house and have the camera ready..i am really interested in this,i really think its a mle stoat.

thekooman

having google imaged again for a male stoat, i got this image. looks the spit of this:
http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/ArchOLD-7/1193115792.jpg

but i thought it was bigger. black snout and black tail tip on these as well.

Kaldorn

its the black tail tip that gives it away...the snout colouration can vary from family to family..you are very lucky to have a stoat visit you and if possible please dont put out any poisen and the stoat will catch mice and rats too. man if i had a stoat visit my garden id have the night vision set up for pics..keep me posted please

thekooman

Kaldorn wrote: »

hi,

Could you please get another pic of the animal if you leave out some sardines on a plate or some dog food further awayy from the house and have the camera ready..i am really interested in this,i really think its a mle stoat.

looking the NPWS site it says:
Kits are usually born, deaf and blind, in April or May, between three and 10 in each litter. At five weeks, the mother begins to teach them to hunt. They are weaned by 12 weeks. Many kits die during their first winter. Life expectancy is about four years in the wild.

maybe the one im seeing is heavily pregnant!

i have an canon 1000d but no remote trigger or sensor for taking a photo.
its fairly reclusive anyways cos its the first time in 6 months we have seen it.... happened at 6am this morning so must like the early morning.... unlike me!

thekooman

another question:
will the stoat attack a human? that is, if my wife went into the garage to get turf would the stoat attack if it was inside the door fearing that it was cornered?

AlanSparrowhawk

thekooman wrote: »

hi all,
wife was getting ready for work this morning and looked out the window to see what is a very brown animal, bigger than a cat eating from the rat poison bait box beside our garage.
i didn't get chance to get th

an animal is eating rat poison you've laid out and your first reaction is to take a photo? you're some hero

thekooman

AlanSparrowhawk wrote: »

an animal is eating rat poison you've laid out and your first reaction is to take a photo? you're some hero

thanks alan.

at least its in a bait box so he didn't get at it.
didn't see him knocking about this morning anyhoos. it didn't always visit our bins every nite before so i mightn't see it again for awhile.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

thekooman wrote: »

another question:
will the stoat attack a human? that is, if my wife went into the garage to get turf would the stoat attack if it was inside the door fearing that it was cornered?

For someone who has lived in the country all you life, you shouyld know better. :rolleyes:

Of course it won't attack a human. I hope you don't have Buzzards around or she'll be afraid to go to the washing line:D

thekooman

Lillian Cool Stock-still wrote: »

For someone who has lived in the country all you life, you shouyld know better. :rolleyes:

Of course it won't attack a human. I hope you don't have Buzzards around or she'll be afraid to go to the washing line:D

http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/100-years-ago/40262/stoat-attacks-man-hoeing-turnips
whats a buzzard?
edit: did a google on the buzzard; doesn't live in the south or west of ireland!! the wife won't have to fear that one so! :-)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Bad news for you!

Your source is out of date. Buzzards are rapidly spreading to almost all counties of Ireland.;)

I wouldn't pay much attention to a newpaper report from New Zealand 100 years ago.:P

Zzippy

Hard to tell from the photo but I'd say mink or pine marten - looks far too big to be a stoat.

cuddlycavies

It,s a mink or an otter.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

OK Look! It could not be a Pime Marten with a Black Tip to the tail. If it's a Mink then it's the most ightly coloured ones I've ever seen (or the picture quality is worse than thought). A Otter? A Stoat? Depends an awful lot on size. Maybe the OP would go outside and measure the length of block wall to the right to give us a scale. If 1ft then a Stoat, if 3ft then an Otter etc.

neil_hosey

Definately not a pine martin..

If you live within a mile or two of the sea, or an estuary or a lake, Id put money on it its an otter. The pic isnt the best, but from the back, and the tail especially it looks like an otter..

If you see if from the front, if it has big ears, its a stoat though.

thekooman

i saved that image as jpg when it should have been png... i have the original so will post again... i didn't realise how bad the quality was until i seen it there.
a block is 4 inches high and 18 inches long.
haven't seen it since that.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

thekooman wrote: »

a block is 4 inches high and 18 inches long.
.

That settles it for me. It's an Otter with a muddy face!!

Morganna

id say it was an otter .im worried about the bait box though hope he didnt get any.

Morganna

looked again it defo is an otter please remove the bait box u said it was eating from the bait box so was it eating the poison .i hope it wasnt