A Playful Stoat.
My grandfather would never allow anyone to molest a stoat that showed itself close to the farm buildings. He believed they did more good than harm and made it law that they were to be safe in the vicinity of the buildings. We have a stoat living in the low wall that runs to the back of the disused pighouse at the end of the cottage garden and we have decided to co-exist. A few weeks ago he was seen dragging a young rabbit across the concrete floor of the pighouse and he was blessed for his work, for the rabbits have become a great nuisance, entering a row of cloches and eating their way along before it was discovered what was happening. Our stoat is a playful creature with a kitten's curiosity, for he appeared out of the scrub and sprang on to the lid of a water cistern where lie rolled on his back, switching his tail and clawing the air, and then rose to peer down a gap between the cistern and the lid. If he discourages the rabbits he will do well and he is almost sure to do something about the mice that abound and attract the kestrels to hover end- lessly above the garden.
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