This was a very special encounter! Seeing this beautiful creature in his winter coat, running through the woods, was amazing!

I first saw this weasel running across the woodland floor ahead of me. I followed after it, at a distance, and watched as it explored cavities in standing dead trees, in tree stumps and in logs. It moved quickly but was relatively easy to see because of lack of snow cover, thus it stood out. It often ran along logs, climbed up trees, and went down into rocky crevices. Just when I thought I'd lost it for good, it popped out of a hole in a tree at eye level and sat watching me for awhile (ermine are known to be curious) as shown here. It then exited the tree at ground level and raced off, on the hunt again. Weasels need to eat frequently, especially in cold weather, and they are almost always seeking food. This one seemed to be after red squirrels, a favoured food, as in several instances after it left a tree, a red squirrel popped out behind it and raced off in the opposite direction.

In Europe this species is usually called a stoat.

For others posting special shots: http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=47858&sid=45c4149fe376aa32d2ed2607ee235cae