This was the very first time I saw a stoat clearly in the wild. It was a day that I felt far too ‘broken’ to go out, and knew that doing so would wreck me for days to come, even more. But, because I’d been stuck in the house trying to recover for days on end, from the previous week’s exertion, I did it anyway. Probably out of sheer desperation to get outside. I’m glad I did, because this was a brand new experience to me and felt like a prize for doing so. But, I felt it the next day even more-so. And that in a nutshell is the experience of a chronically ill photographer who loves wildlife photography more than any other kind!
But enough of the tiny violin. You wouldn’t catch Mr (or Mrs) Stoat feeling sorry for themselves like that. This encounter was purely by chance. I had no idea there were any stoats in the area. As I say, I’ve never seen one so clearly before, but luckily, here, I spotted it before it spotted me, and I spent a good few minutes just quietly observing. I wasn’t even wearing any camouflage! What stood out to me in those few minutes is how tiny they are, I simply hadn’t realised before, and also how well ‘designed’ stoats are for the kind of movements they make. The long, looping body allows them to contort and spring around up and around the woodland with ease.
A lovely experience.
