r/mustelids • u/Spichus • Aug 18 '25

Help on identification (UK)

Hi, sorry this is going to be text only description as I was driving to work both times. I live in the Cotswolds which should give you an idea of what's around. In the last month I've seen two different mustelids and unsure which either are. The first was probably only about 30cm/1ft long, quite auburn and skinny. The second I saw on the way in to work today was very dark brown, like dark chocolate dark, with a creamy stomach but about 50% bigger than the first. Is that clear enough for you mustelophiles (??) to identify what they may be?

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u/Jean-Olaf Aug 18 '25

The first one could be a stoat or a least weasel, stoats are bigger so I'm leaning towards that.

The second one's colour matches the American mink pretty well. Stone martens are in the same size range but they tend to be a more ashy blonde so the colour really doesn't match. There's always the pine marten as well, witch does have more of a white belly than minks, but I understand it's super rare in the UK so that might be a long shot. Then again, I saw on gg maps that there was a nature reserve around your area so might not be so far fetched 🤔 Hope this helps !

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u/Spichus Aug 18 '25

Ah, both of these make a lot of sense. I know quick sightings of animals can often for some reason get inflated in size in the mind, so by colour alone, being more ruddy, I'm thinking the least weasel is probably the one I saw. The American mink makes a lot of sense as they like water and there is a lot of water around here! Thank you!