A man out skiing with his friends encountered a rarely-seen creature hiding deep in the snow. Instgrammer @kerwynjones2 posted the video of a stoat (otherwise known as an ermine) and wrote, “Watch closely….This little creature, known as a stoat or ermine, is rarely ever seen in the wild. It changes its fur color from winter to summer.”
In winter the ermine’s fur is white as you’ll see. Their fur can also be brown. For the skier and his friends, it’s an incredible experience and their delight at the rare sighting is clear in their voices as they watch the cute ermine pop its head out of the snow and then shuffle past them.
A man had a similar encounter with an ermine while walking in the woods. He spotted the cute creature in a tree. You can watch that video here. The stoats’ fur changes color in the winter when their brown coat molts. When they have turned white they are called “ermines.”
Viewers were envious of the skiers rare sighting. One viewer wrote, “I’ve snowshoed in the mountains for two decades and never seen anything pop out of the snow like this.”
Others were delighted by the skiers calling the ermine a “snow mouse.” One person wrote, “The genuine delight in both of their reactions is almost more adorable than the ‘snow mouse’.”
Several viewers were quick to point out that ermines might look adorable and cute but are fierce hunters. “Cutest little killing machine you’ve ever seen,” commented one viewer. “They will eat the faces off your chicken and take down a full sized Snowshoe bunny,” noted another. “Friend shaped with lots of sharp teeth and determination!”
One man explained that ermines are related to the weasel family which also includes the wolverine and added, “Pound for pound one of the biggest badasses in the woods.”
And one commenter shared their encounter and wrote, “I used to live in a small mountain town in Colorado. Worked at a hot springs. I was on a break and chillin behind the tank house (where we regulate water temps) and we used to have field mice that stayed back there to keep warm. On of these little guys scurried past my chair, stopped and looked at me for a minute, and allowed me to audibly gush at his cuteness. He ran off and I was sitting there in awe for a couple of minutes. He came back with a dead mouse in his mouth, literally dropped it at my feet as if to say, ‘look at this delicious dinner I just caught!!’, looked at me, picked it back up, and ran off again. I will never forget that little guy. Such a great experience.”
Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links.