When you start to look for white mice in the snow

It all started when I suddenly saw something white running across a green surface. It was fast like the wind, here, there, a jump into the air, and after the long jump it hides again in its hole in the ground. At least so long, till the air doesn’t get a bit clearer and it is safe enough to look out again. Carefully of course, it makes sure nobody sees it until it gathers its courage to stand on his 2 back legs, just like a  pillar, standing up straight, looking into every direction and quickly jumping and running to its second hole to hide again.

I am talking, of course, about the white mouse, also known as stoat or big weasel (Mustela erminea), a small beast from the family of martens.  This slender animal is more or less brown colored all the year though, but in winter it changes its full to a protective while color, with just the end tips of the tail remaining black. I must admit, I wasn’t quite sure at first what that black color at the tips was really good for. But in nature, nothing is without purpose, and when the first snow fell and softly covered the grass, I began to understand. That black tip of the almost all-white tail kind of resembles a tuft of grass, which again enables the stoat to hide from its predators. It is almost virtually undetectable, but in situations when even the sharp eye of wild birds of prey spots this little guy… Just the other day I saw a buzzard circling around a den of a stoat. The buzzard sat on the nearest branch of a tree and waited for its chance. Buzzards, among others such as owls, foxes, wild and domestic cats and mean martens, are all natural predators of the stoat. In the last few decades, the extensive use of chemicals in farming “helped” to decline the steadily decreasing numbers of stoats and it has therefore, in the last few years, been placed on the list of protected species in Slovenia. In old times these carnivores were known, and highly priced for, their high-quality fur, which was the symbol of aristocracy in these parts of the world.

Just years ago, when no snow fell, it was so easy to follow them in nature, because their white fur made them quite visible for the naked human eye, especially in the times they hunted. They usually moved and hunted on cultivated fields, near busy roads. I “camped” myself in a highly visited location, hidden with a earth-colored disguise and waited for nearly 1 month, of course a few hours every day, and tried to capture these fascinating creatures on tape, allowing me to somewhat try to understand their nature along the way. Normally stoats have many dens, which are spread throughout its territory, which can also be quite vast. Every den also has many different exits, which lead to the surface. And so you typically wait for the animal to stretch out his head through one hole in which it came in from, and it suddenly pops up in a totally different location meters away and surprises you every time.  

Even though stoats dig their own dens, they still make use of pre-made dens and holes, which were dug up by other creatures, such as moles, mice and shrews, which are also their main prey. A good 120 to 300 g heavy animal needs at least one quarter of their body weight of food every day. Except for small rodents, they can also eat birds, reptiles, bigger insects, earthworms and frogs. Male stoats are usually bigger and stronger, but smaller females have a bigger advantage for the search in smaller earth holes. They are also known for their aggressive behavior, since in dangerous situation they can even attack rabbits, but usually end up dead from the sheer shock in these encounters rather than from bites, because their teeth are much too small to reach or piece any main arteries of a rabbit.

But you can’t really blame them. It is their place in the natural food circle and their way of life; a part of a whole story, where only the strong survive and the more advanced, cunning and adaptable individuals can cope with the changes of the environment.

I have to admit, these “white mice” captivate you because of their natural beauty. They have a kind of sparkly, intense, and sometimes playful nature… Soon you realize that the stoat invited you to dance along… You try your luck, you test your responsiveness and your patience… And when it looks at you in just one single moment, that playful look it gives you, you know you are “toast” and you have to find out more about these fascinating creatures. Because studying its habits, understanding its way of life and the habitat it lives in, where it moves and lives, also means a step closer to help them preserve these and keep the environment clean and safe. So their cheerful sight can be seen throughout many more generations to come; white balls of fur running through the open plains, running till the next hole they jump and hide in…

So, find me if you can!?