### animal | vertebrate | mammal | weasel | ermine:

Stoat
* Most stoats are classified as omnivores
  - eat meat
* Most stoats have dens
  - long tails
* Most stoats kill prey
  - suitable prey
* Some stoats affect growth
  - population growth
* Some stoats eat amphibians
  - rabbits
  - rats
* Some stoats have distinctive black tips
  - nipples
  - sharp teeth
  - kill shrews
  - occupy ranges
  - occur in habitats
  - turn partially or completely white in winter when they are considered to be in ermine.
  * are long and thin with short legs, small ears, and thick warm fur. Their fur is brown, but changes to white in the winter. The tail has a black tip all year round. Stoats have a good sense of smell, and they talk and hunt using smell. They do not see color as well as humans, but they can see better at night. Stoats are not nocturnal, and are most active during dawn and dusk.
  * are long and thin with short legs, small ears, and thick warm fur. Their fur is brown, but changes to white in the winter. The tail has a black tip all year round. Stoats have a good sense of smell, and they talk and hunt using smell. They do not see color as well as humans, but they can see better at night. Stoats are not nocturnal, and are most active during dawn and dusk. Like skunks, stoats can spray a bad smelling fluid when they are scared. They are also good at climbing trees.
  * live in temperate, subarctic northern areas. They live in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. They were also brought to New Zealand by people. In New Zealand they are considered bad because they kill too many native animals.
  * live alone and are territorial. They mate once a year and have several babies, which are called kits. The kits may not develop for 8-9 months after the female becomes pregnant. When weather conditions are good and there is plenty of food, the kits begin to grow and are born within a month. The males do not help raise the babies
* also feed heavily on reptiles and invertebrates
  - take the eggs of chickens and game birds
* are absent from Mediterranean countries and Southern Europe
  - another name for weasel
  - as deadly for native insects, bats and other native birds as they are for kiwi
  - avid climbers, feeding on birds, rats, mice, and invertebrates
  - by far the most serious threat to kiwi survival
  - carnivorous feeding on rabbits, small rodents, rats, water voles and birds on the ground
  - completely white in winter, except for the black tips of their tails
* are found in a variety of habitats in North America, Europe and Asia
  - throughout New Zealand at all altitudes, but are common in forest and open country
  - larger and have longer tails which end in a black tip
* are larger than weasels and have a longer tail with a black tip
  - longer tails with a distinctive black tip
  - long and thin with short legs , small ears , and thick warm fur
  - mammals
  - native to a wide range of the Northern Hemisphere
  - one of the most widespread mustelids
  - polygamous beings
  - preyed upon by birds of prey and larger carnivores such as foxes, martens, and fishers
  - skilful predators , typically feeding on rabbits and small rodents
  - small, skinny mammals
  - so savage they can easily overwhelm animals more than twice their own size
* attack rabbits.
* have a conspicuous black tip to the tail and are often seen near rabbit warrens.
* have a good sense of smell , and they talk and hunt using smell
  - and often detect bats in their roosts
  - attacks
  - heads
  - panic attacks
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - faces
  - pedal extremities
  - piluses
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - vertebrate feet
* kill by going for the throat with their razor sharp teeth
  - nesting females and destroy eggs all over New Zealand
* live in any habitat in which they can find prey
  - open country, especially in places where there are stone walls and undergrowth
  - temperate , subarctic northern areas
  - wild as well as residential areas
* mainly feed on rodents , rabbits and birds.
* mostly diet on other small mammals like rabbits and mice.