The Stoats Of Loch Lomond

Jay Jean Jackson
Aug 31
3 min read

The scream I heard was piercing but short and I couldn't think what on earth had made such a terrible noise, it certainly wasn't like anything I had ever heard before. My curiosity had got the better of me as I nervously ventured out to investigate.

We were camped on the beautiful shores of Loch Lomond. The views across the loch were spectacular and ever changing. Mountains rose in the distance and an amazing array of flora dotted the landscape in various lush shades of green which was reflected in the deep waters of the loch. The shores were a delight to stroll along, with creamy coloured rocks and boulders sitting perched on the shoreline. There were lumps of driftwood and logs that provided a perfect place to sit and contemplate or just rest and admire to endless view.

I knew I had to find out what the noise was but I was almost afraid to look. It didn't take me long to find out, as a dead rabbit lay not too far from our caravan, and I looked around to see who the murderer was. There he stood, bolt upright, peering out of the bushes, a beautiful but ferocious little mammal called a stoat.

As he stood there looking at me with his ridiculously cute brown face, I wanted to laugh. He looked so indignant, with his beady black eyes, as he gazed between me and his kill. He had huge but neat round ears for such a small slender creature and stood at approximately a foot tall, his tiny legs hanging in front of his beautiful white chest and I could just about see his long tail sticking out behind him with a black tip. What struck me as extraordinary was that the rabbit was at least three times his size. Although, thankfully, I hadn't seen the kill I knew it had been quick and as sorry as I felt for the rabbit my fascination with the stoat began.

Over the next few weeks I often heard the scream of another poor rabbit having their life snubbed out by the Stoat but I was in the perfect place to observe and photograph them and this was an opportunity not to be missed. Despite their extremely short legs I was amazed at how fast they could run, they glide between strides and can reach speeds of approximately 20mph. For such a small creature with extremely short legs I think that is quite an impressive speed.

It was the new age of digital photography and unfortunately the camera I had in those days wasn't high quality but I happily snapped away anyway. I would simply sit and wait, a small but comfortable distance away from the rabbit. He wanted his rabbit and I wanted a photo. At first; he would hop backwards and forwards, almost like a figure of eight, then stand up and look at me before repeating the exercise time and time again. It seemed like a decision-making dance, perhaps weighting up the odds of leaving his kill or daring to grab it and run. He very soon came to realise I was no threat to him and would stalk up to his kill low in the grass, almost cat like, to drag it back to his den. As time went on we got used to each other and he would look at me as if to say, oh it's just you again and carry on about his business as if I wasn't even there.

I have always loved wildlife but this was my first encounter of getting up close and personal, I was in the perfect place to observe these mammals, every day, it was an amazing experience that I felt so lucky to have had. My wildlife addiction had begun, a hobby that over the next few years would take me to some weird and wonderful places where I would experience many more unexpected encounters with earths amazing creatures.