2.2.10

Ivan Stalio - White ermine or Ermellino bianco

Ivan Stalio Illustrator



Only recently I have came across the symbology of the white ermine or stoat - Purity at the expense of own death, but also the symbol of timely action and curiosity. I laughed with myself after becoming aware of this.

Mercy in Darkness

Two steps from hell

2 comments:

Eikei said...

So beautiful..nice~~
..(can us have one?==)

skunkie said...

Hello and welcome,

yes it is a beautiful animal. If you can have one or not depends on several things, like the legislation in your country about keeping wild animals and keeping exotic pets.

Ferrets, Stoats, river Otters (Kawauso?!) share the same family - Mustelidae - but are diferent species.

About Ferrets I found from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret

Japan – It is legal to keep ferrets as pets in Japan. In Hokkaido prefecture, ferrets must be registered with local government. In other prefectures, no restrictions apply.

There seems to be a subspecies of Mustela erminea (stoat) native to Japan, where the scientific name goes by Mustela erminea nippon (Hondo stoat).

The Hondo stoat is a rare animal which conservation status is "Near Threatened", so you will have to check with local authorities, but it's almost a big NO for sure. - from http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/animal-japan/okojo/index.html

Maybe you can try to find out what could you do to help the Hondo stoat. I mean what is threatening this animal? What can be done about it?

I read in the site above that they are called "Mountain Fairy", because they are so cute.

Besides cute, they are full of funny behaviours. For example, when they hunt for larger prey, like rabbits, they perform a kind of "dance" knowned as "stoat crazy dance", "stoat war dance" or even "stoat mad dance". You can see a video of 2 young stoats playing (they are brown fur because it is not winter anymore): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNbqvqf3-14

They leap, jump, roll over, run from side to side really fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHImJVJSJ08

And now you can ask? Is that stoat going to eat that rabbit? Yes! And what the stoat doesn't eat, will bury. In here, stoats could be trained to help hunters to hunt rabbits.

Hope this can help you a bit,

cheers.