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Stoat and rabbit |
13.9.2003 |
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Ian Veale |
Ian
Veale sent me this photograph of a stoat pouncing on a
rabbit. He heard a 'very excruciating noise' and on
investigation found a stoat gripping a rabbit firmly by the
scruff of the neck. The stoat was rolling around the rabbit
but Ian's intervention interrupted it and it made off into
cover. It returned a few minutes later and pounced on the
rabbit again and eventually dragged it, still alive but
putting up no struggle, into the bushes. Witnessing such an
event and, even better, photographing it, is a once in a
lifetime experience, but I have collected several such
accounts over the years.
Stoats,
and weasels, are extremely strong for their size and the
massive muscles of the shoulders and jaws enable them to
wrestle prey far larger than themselves. The jaws are not
dislocated in the process because bony flanges on the skull
hold them in place. So, once the carnivore has sunk its
teeth into its prey, there is little hope of escape.
It
looks a bit one-sided with the consummate killer against the
defenceless herbivore, but predators must take care not to
be wounded by their victims. An injury could severely
jeopardise future hunting. A fluffy bunny may look like a
helpless victim but there are accounts of rabbits fighting
back. One was of a female rabbit that chased a stoat making
off with one of her young. Three times she kicked the stoat,
sending it flying 10 to 15 yards through the air, until it
released its victim. I have also been shown the crushed
skull of a stoat that was kicked by a pet rabbit.
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