7th January, 2000

Several people have reported sightings of weasels to me during recent months. Although I occasionally see weasels locally, I have not actually seen one inside the school grounds but I am not surprised that they are active there as the grounds must contain a number of food sources for them, including the sizeable rabbit population.

The pictures on this page are of a skull which came from a weasel that was found dead in the grounds by the Master on Duty. I know that weasels are related to badgers but was still struck by the similarity between the weasel skull and badger skulls that I have seen. Both have the same general shape and structure. The most conspicuous difference is that the weasel skull does not have the bony crest that is seen on badger skulls running down the centre. The two vicious-looking teeth at the front of each jaw are common to both types of skull and must be very useful to the weasel when gripping its prey.

I find that the best places to look for weasels in this area are the railway embankments and on areas of derelict land, especially where there are piles of bricks, rocks or rubble providing lots of holes where the weasels can hunt for prey. Once or twice, my attention has been drawn to a weasels by the calls of small birds, such as wrens, in the bushes above the grass in which the weasels were moving around. The birds respond to the weasels in the same way that they respond to flying predators such as tawny owls. It is easy to see how some of the old stories about weasels dancing or putting on a performance to mesmerise birds might have come about.