At Original Equipment HQ we now have a resident Stoat. He or she  first came to our notice when we saw a rabbit flopping and rolling across the grass towards our wood pile. We assumed the rabbit had been wounded and was in its death throes. However it was taking far too long to reach it's maker, so we took out the binoculars for a closer look. We were shocked to see a tiny streak of brown wrapping itself around the rabbit and gradually moving it a few inches at a time.

It was dragging and rolling the dead rabbit towards the wood pile. After about ten minutes it had reached the logs with the rabbit now safely under cover. We returned about forty minutes later and the stoat had obviously had a good meal and was presumably now sleeping it off in its den.

We have seen our stoat(s) several times since, always on or near our log pile. They appear astonishingly energetic creatures for their size. We love to have them in the garden as from our view point he (or they) are doing their bit to keep our rabbit population under control. This is just another moment with nature that reminds us how lucky we are to live in the country.