How to sex and age stoats based on the dimensions of their skulls

The island-wide stoat eradication team enjoyed learning about how to sex and age stoats based on the dimensions of their skulls from Dr Elaine Murphy when she was on Waiheke Island.

Male stoats are physically bigger than female stoats and so are their skulls, however, as they age the skulls narrow and form a distinct ridge across the top of the skull.

Recently, the island-wide stoat eradication team celebrated the recent catch of an adult stoat by farm staff at Rarowhara. This is a great win for Waiheke as the size and form of the skull shows it may be a female. That's potentially up to twelve fewer stoats to be caught this summer after the denning season.

The stoat caught sits in that grey area of too big to be female and too small to be male so the team are getting creative with their sexing techniques.

Thank you Elaine for sharing your knowledge with the team!