A flicker in my left eye. Movement, life, that sort of thing. I turned my head sharply, away from the screen, looked through the window alongside my desk and – well, sometimes it’s a blackbird or a robin, which is fine, certainly better than staring at my own words, sometimes it’s a pheasant, which is inevitable round here, but this time it was a stoat. Suddenly it was a good morning.
Stoats are like Tigger: they move in a series of bounces. A sort of bounce-pounce, bounce-pounce. Perhaps it’s the only gait that this long and gracile (good word) body can sustain. After every two or three bounces it stopped and stood meerkat-wise on its back legs, looking about with great excitement and likely to topple over any second. What had the sky dropped in the way of food this day?
It was a stoat all right – black tip to the tail – but it was tiny, half the size of some of the adults I’ve seen in the same spot. A few weeks old, then, a teenager, finding out what the world is all about. It looked too little to be fierce, the eyes too bright and naive to be menacing. Still, give it time…
I always love to come across stoats or weasels when out on a walk. I always feel sorry that they had such a bad press in the books I read as a child. Always portrayed as the naughty party
Pure delight to have your blog pop up!!
Thank you. Wonderful to receive your blog.
Marvellous – I have never seen a stoat. Thank you for this – love your “articles”.
Where have you been?
Did not know till recently that Ermine is made from Stoat fur, especially white ones.
So good to have you back and bring a smile to my face. To concentrate on what really matters in this world. Thank you so much.
Every now and again a stoat brings me pleasure and every now and then a rare Simon Barnes observation brightens my day. Thank you
It’s something I can’t explain, but your writing on the Wild World just tunes right into my brain. Thank you for your welcome words, fab to have them back. The Times’ half page of wonderment is still very much missed. I’ve read books and found art I would never have known of had I not been guided by that half a page. You’ve educated this mind and that’s a precious thing.