What animal is this?

Twice now Ive seen what looks like a mink type animal by the road.
It is dark brown all over, bigger than a stoat and bigger than a domestic ferret.
It has a fluffy tail and looked to be all one colour, dark chocolate brown. When it runs it bounds like a ferret.
Ive spoken to someone else who has also seen them but what are they. It was rolling about on the grass verge and did not have a pale underside to its belly.
Had a look at a wildlife book and the nearest I found was a mink but its tail was not in the picture.
Has anyone else seen them and what are they?
Both times I have seen them in the morning, just before 9am.

Could it be a weasel?
Or even an otter? ( I seen an otter lying dead at the side of the road at reiss a couple months ago)

It didnt have the thick muscly tail of an otter. It was actually not far from your house. Have you seen them?

Mink?
.............
Weasels and stoats are wee and skinny.
Or a polecat?

Looking through the wild life book I thought it could be mink, pine marten or a wild polecat.
It had a fluffy tail though so could it be the pine marten? They are upposed to be elusive!
Which of the above are in Caithnes in any numbers?

Have seen weasels and polecats near the farm.
Also ferrets as several have gone missing from keiss in the past lol

There are pine martins here.
One near lyth near the pipeline is confirmed....
If it is one they like peanut butter.....or jam if you want to entice it closer to have a better look!

Ooohh it was near the pipeline both times!
Wonder if I saw the same one or there are more? Quite a decent size/too big for a ferret but I dont know how big real wild polecats are.
We had stoats and weasels where I came from and it was not something Ive seen before.
Will have to keep my eyes open for it again :)

I'd say it's a pine Martin you saw. There are loads o them I Caithness, they live I the trees.I know there a fair few of them I the trees at lyth, tho thatis not the only place you will see them.

Yes I think you are right thanks all :)

What you describe is definetly not a weasle or a pine martin, weasles have a white thoat marking and are smaller than stoats. Pine martins have a cream coloured throat marking, and are more a reddish brown in colour. They are woodland creatures and very secretive in nature, so the possibility of seeing it next to the roadside would be practically nile. As for it being a wild polecat, sorry not this far north. Wild polecats are not dark brown all over, for a start they have a white band across the face and tips of their ears. Most wild polecats that people claim to see are infact domesticated ferrets with polecat markings. Without a shaddow of doubt, i think what you saw was either an otter or a mink. Atb

southern gal there is pine martins in the forest behind you

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Originally Posted by Southern-Gal

Yes I think you are right thanks all :)

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Originally Posted by fudge100

What you describe is definetly not a weasle or a pine martin, weasles have a white thoat marking and are smaller than stoats. Pine martins have a cream coloured throat marking, and are more a reddish brown in colour. They are woodland creatures and very secretive in nature, so the possibility of seeing it next to the roadside would be practically nile. As for it being a wild polecat, sorry not this far north. Wild polecats are not dark brown all over, for a start they have a white band across the face and tips of their ears. Most wild polecats that people claim to see are infact domesticated ferrets with polecat markings. Without a shaddow of doubt, i think what you saw was either an otter or a mink. Atb

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Sorry but I have to disagree! I have seen pine martins crossing the lyth road dueing day light hours several times, also on the A9 near Helmsdale. I have also been using a sawmill at Lyth and a pine martin run along the forest track just feet away looking at me, obviously in the day time! And before anyone tells me I am wrong, I know my wildlife very well!

If it was not for the fluffy tail on both occasions I would have guessed at mink.
But the tail was fluffy, it was not an otter I have seen them squashed on the road in the past, the tail is very muscular on an otter.
Having seen it or them twice very clearly I do agree with the others who have said it is a pine marten, also someone else has seen them and the first thing he said was Ive seen them with the fluffy tails so no I dont think it is a mink, Im quite sure it is a pine marten Ive seen both times.
Maybe they are not as elusive around here as they dont need to be?
Either way, lovely to see :)

you'd be suprised how quickly an otter gets fluffy as he dries lol
end up with bushy tails like a cat!
that dead otter at reiss i thought was a cat the first 3 times i past due to fluffyness but when i slowed down it was deffo an otter lol
sounds like its been a pine martin tho this time, mystery solved! now dont leave the house without a camera ;) catch a pic next time! x

Will do my best!

As the OP says "looked to be all one colour, dark chocolate brown" I'm still not sure it was a Pine Marten as they have very distinctive creamy/yellow fronts. They are also huge in comparison to other mustelids- about the size of a cat.
On a related subject, as I was driving through Bower the other day I thought someone had left a hosepipe across the road. When I got closer it was a family of about 15 weasels crossing the road in single file. Wish I had my camera with me.

It was bigger than the ferrets, weasels and stoats I have seen before.

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Originally Posted by fudge100

As for it being a wild polecat, sorry not this far north. Wild polecats are not dark brown all over, for a start they have a white band across the face and tips of their ears. Most wild polecats that people claim to see are infact domesticated ferrets with polecat markings. Without a shaddow of doubt, i think what you saw was either an otter or a mink. Atb

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There have been confirmed polecat sightings in Caithness.