Video shows stoat doing somersaults in Rudgwick garden

He said: “We have a pond which is the backdrop to where the stoat was running around. This year a moorhen successfully reared three youngsters, having nested 15 feet up in the top of a tree - which I’ve never seen before!

“Anyway, this has meant that during this summer I have always known whether a potential predator was in the vicinity of the pond by the sharp ‘cluck, cluck’ emitted by the mother moorhen to warn her chicks of the potential danger.

“So last Thursday I heard the warning signals from the moorhen as I approached the area and that was when I first saw the stoat cavorting and somersaulting with what seemed like just sheer leaps of joy!

“The following day on Friday I heard the same commotion, so I grabbed my camera, approached the area very slowly, and shot the video.I haven’t seen it since.

“ The last one I saw on my property here in Rudgwick - or anywhere for that matter - was about 20 years ago. Looking up information on the internet the common comment is that they are rather difficult to capture on camera as they never keep still long enough!”

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