These 6 stoat facts will teach you about these mammalian predators. They may be small, but they cause havoc in New Zealand.
Ever since I first came to New Zealand I’ve been hearing about stoats. I’ve heard stories about how they kill birds, and eat bird eggs. Once a ranger told us how stoats can climb trees, and even swim over 1 km! In all my explorations in NZ I’ve only seen them in the wild twice. One was dead in a trap. The other one was alive, and shockingly we saw it run across the trail in a beech forest when we walked the Kepler Track!
6 Stoat Facts – The Perfect Predator?
Stoats were first introduced to New Zealand back in the 1880s as part of a misguided effort to control rabbits. The rabbits were also introduced and soon became so widespread that they became a problem. Thus, people brought stoats to NZ on purpose with the hope that they would control another introduced species.
These animals are a type of mustelid. You may hear people talking about the mustelids and what a threat they are to New Zealand’s native birds, reptiles, and insects. Well, the mustelids are a family of mammals that includes stoats, weasels, and ferrets. All three were introduced by people to New Zealand and now all three are a problem, but it’s stoats that are the most widespread now.
They are very good at hunting and are possibly the perfect hunter. Stoats have very good eyesight, good hearing, and a good sense of smell. Those are all qualities that help them find their prey. Then on top of that, they can run fast, are able to climb trees, and can even swim. Yep, that ranger was telling the truth when he recounted the tale of how stoats swam over 1 km to an offshore island.
You’ve probably figured this out, but stoats are carnivores. They eat a broad range of food, including birds, eggs, rats, mice, rabbits, possums, lizards, and insects (such as wetas). They are able to kill animals that are bigger than them.
Here is a crazy stoat fact for you. Stoats are one of several animals that practice delayed implantation. That is a fancy way of saying that females can have their eggs fertilized by males, but they can delay actually implanting that egg into their uterus and growing a baby. Baby female stoats are impregnated by the males within weeks of being born, but they can hold off on becoming pregnant until they are old enough to have a baby.
Stoats are common and widespread on the main islands of New Zealand, but luckily are absent from many offshore islands. They can live in just about any habitat, such as beaches, dunes, forest, farmland, and alpine areas.