NOTES ON SOME SUFFOLK MOTHS 2009
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Stoat Climbing a Tree On 13th August 2009, while walking along section eight of the Fynn Valley butterfly transect, I encountered a stoat on the path through alder carr woodland. It was about ten yards ahead of me, having jumped down onto the path from a low bough to the left. I stood absolutely still immediately and it gave no indication that it had seen me. The stoat then jumped into another tree on the right of the path and started to climb higher, with considerable agility, though it twice had to move back when encountering very thin branches. Once it leapt a distance of about five feet into a nearby tree and eventually returned to the ground, quickly disappearing into deep vegetation further off the path. I am aware that stoats will climb trees but I couldn’t work out its purpose. Virtually all the branches it moved along were bare or having very few leaves, in what is a largely shaded area of the wood. It was certainly not in pursuit of prey and there were definitely no nests or holes along its route. I estimated that the maximum height it climbed was about forty feet. Richard Stewart ‘Valezina’ 112 Westerfield Road Ipwich Suffolk IP4 2XW
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 46 (2010)