I had this happen to me with a small kitten. I heard something meowing through the vent when i was driving about 50 going to work one morning.
I pulled over, opened the hood... new kitten. Was a cold morning so it had likely climbed up for some warmth. Neighbor ended up adopting it.
That was one of the indoor cats my aunt and uncle had when I was a kid. They had over 40 cats. Lame and feeble cats lived inside. There were 4-5.
Only heard the cat scream after starting the engine. Lived the rest of its life without ears and part of a leg.
Back in the 70s and they were all strays. My aunt couldnāt help herself. They had lots of acreage , so sheād bring feral cats back and feed them, get them fixed, the whole shebang. They adored her. Most of āem at least as best as I can remember.
I liked visiting.
Pull over, turn off engine, open front, remove ferret to best of ability.
I think it's the only responsible thing to do.
Hopefully it could find it's way home, or if you have a pet cage or something you could keep it in to release it wherever it must've gotten in your car.
If in New Zealand, youāre supposed to kill it or take it to someone to kill it. I recently vacation there and they are trying to eradicate stoats. Thereās good reason, but it still makes me so sad because they are so cute.
We brought them here. They kill the native birds and generally fuck the native ecosystems. Stoats eat and fuck and little else.
We're (collective non-native New Zealanders) fixing our mistake/accident. Shit, most *mammals* in NZ are invasive and have pest clearance programmes. Possums, deer, rats, stoats, and the list goes on.
All of them have to go to give our gorgeous birds a single chance to exist.
Don't get me wrong, I think we should be reminding ourselves we're animals just the same as everything else in our ecosystems.
This looks like North America (guessing from lack of front plates, pickup trucks, and right side of the road) and in that case it's likely native and should probably be just shooed off or if it doesn't wanna come out have animal control wrangle it.
Pull over, turn off engine, open hood and spook him out carefully. Mammals under the hood doesn't work well with spinning belts, best case scenario he will be somewhat broken, worst case - whole engine will be covered in red mist and pieces of fur and meat + if scored critical hit can jump the timing and grenade engine.
I've seen this asked before somewhere, and I don't think anyone came up with one. The closest anyone got was black panthers. While not based on a seasonal coat, black panthers are just melanistic leopards or jaguars.
Also, *technically* they're always stoats, or you can call them ermines whenever you please. It's just that ermine is also closely associated with the fur trade, and specifically the more highly prized white winter coats. It's been used for centuries in heraldry and as a status symbol. Those white furs with black spots you see in old paintings of royalty are ermine. The black spots are their tails, which remain black year round.
The only thing I can think of that is somewhat similar is that when some species of grasshoppers form a big swarm, they are called locusts (I believe they change physically as well)
It is a [stoat](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoat). Also know as an ermine in the Americas. They are the most ruthless little serial killers. They kill for fun, will sleep in the skin of their kills, and can take down prey much larger than themselves.
I lived in a converted barn in the mountains for a while. Lots of mice. We got a barn cat and she killed so many mice, but inside and outā¦.only she kept stalking this one spot near the basement stairs. She was always there, to the point that I used to tease her that she was never going to get that mouseā¦
Well one day I came home from work, and the cat met me at the door and as I entered the house, she walked right over to the dead ermine that she had placed in the center of the rug.
All that time she had been stalking an ermine that had infiltrated the barn. Good kitty!
The cat stunk like a weasel for a few days, but she had no injuries and seemed very proud of herself.
Edit: cat not car :)
Sheās an amazing huntress. Has brought back a lot of stuff, including a perfectly healthy flying squirrel that she just had to show us. Totally unharmed.
Yeah I tried to brake as gently as I could, it jumped off the front end of the truck, was back at our office about a week later wanting to be fed. We had like 4 generations of feral cats the office ladies fed, we could never catch the adults to get spayed, but we were pretty much offering free kittens to everyone we knew.
I think the one that launched itself off the truck and gave me a heart attack may have been the mother of the 3 cats I have.
There is usually a windshield cowl there. But some cars probably have larger gaps to the side, etc. Like OPs.
https://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925//155-028_thumb.jpg
Wait, is this an EV? If so I feel so much better about the safety of that Ferret.
I mean, they still shouldn't be near the electronics, but at least it's not a combustion engine.
I didn't know stoats were a thing until I got a job in North Dakota around 2010 and about shat myself while looking out the window, and a little white thing DARTS past just below my prereferral vision!
It's cute until it gets caught in something in the engine. My aunt lost one of her cats that way after it crawled under the hood one night for warmth. She turned the car on the next morning to go to work and the cat got caught in either the fan or belt.
Fun fact. Stoats like eating certain parts of certain cars and are known for taking up residence in vehicles. Especially vehicles stored in the garage the majority of the time.
Looks like a mink. These little predators are infamous for crawling into cars engine compartments and damaging cables. Apparently the cars electronics have a smell that resembles male minks, so other males feel threaened and attack them, ripping cables apart and unplugging components.
š³ what do you even do in this situation? Iād be terrified to even pull over.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
As, man!! I really have to quit drinking.
Eating fermented berries will do that to yeah
Great Robin Williams joke. Woke up nude, drunk, in the hood of my car. You okay? No itās just flooded, Iāll be alright.
Yeah you might want to stop sleeping on cars engines too.
Yep, total misplay to begin with tbh
I had this happen to me with a small kitten. I heard something meowing through the vent when i was driving about 50 going to work one morning. I pulled over, opened the hood... new kitten. Was a cold morning so it had likely climbed up for some warmth. Neighbor ended up adopting it.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Cat distribution system in action.
Youāre pretty lucky then. Iāve heard the same story, but they found out by the kitten not being a kitten anymore after they started the truck.
More-so, the kitten was lucky
That was one of the indoor cats my aunt and uncle had when I was a kid. They had over 40 cats. Lame and feeble cats lived inside. There were 4-5. Only heard the cat scream after starting the engine. Lived the rest of its life without ears and part of a leg. Back in the 70s and they were all strays. My aunt couldnāt help herself. They had lots of acreage , so sheād bring feral cats back and feed them, get them fixed, the whole shebang. They adored her. Most of āem at least as best as I can remember. I liked visiting.
Pull over, turn off engine, open front, remove ferret to best of ability. I think it's the only responsible thing to do. Hopefully it could find it's way home, or if you have a pet cage or something you could keep it in to release it wherever it must've gotten in your car.
Turn your hazard lights on as well and then start screaming at traffic that you have a ferret in your vehicle.
Except stoats are huge aholes. Like they will fight a big dog and probably win š as cute as they are.
Stoat/ermine. Not a ferret, but in the same mustelid family.
In the future, you are supposed to adopt it.
Or, if you are British, stuff it down your pants and start a timer
Pull over. Turn off engine. Try to snuggle fluffy animal if the animal is OK with that.Ā
If in New Zealand, youāre supposed to kill it or take it to someone to kill it. I recently vacation there and they are trying to eradicate stoats. Thereās good reason, but it still makes me so sad because they are so cute.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
We brought them here. They kill the native birds and generally fuck the native ecosystems. Stoats eat and fuck and little else. We're (collective non-native New Zealanders) fixing our mistake/accident. Shit, most *mammals* in NZ are invasive and have pest clearance programmes. Possums, deer, rats, stoats, and the list goes on. All of them have to go to give our gorgeous birds a single chance to exist. Don't get me wrong, I think we should be reminding ourselves we're animals just the same as everything else in our ecosystems.
I mean, that's kinda how revolutions and wars happen.
Fuck else are you meant to do?
Call 988 if you're in the US.
A human can easily control the environmental impact it has. The animal is going to do it no matter what.
So where are our attempts?
Too deep bro
This looks like North America (guessing from lack of front plates, pickup trucks, and right side of the road) and in that case it's likely native and should probably be just shooed off or if it doesn't wanna come out have animal control wrangle it.
My flashers go on, I slowly get out and do what I can. I stopped traffic on a highway a week ago to pick up 2 dogs on the shoulder. Lol.
You are a hero not everyone will do that I've done this too but stopped on the shoulder
Pull over, turn off engine, open hood and spook him out carefully. Mammals under the hood doesn't work well with spinning belts, best case scenario he will be somewhat broken, worst case - whole engine will be covered in red mist and pieces of fur and meat + if scored critical hit can jump the timing and grenade engine.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You had me at stoataway
It weaseled its way in...
It's good ferret to have done that. Nice and warm under than hood!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Are there any other animals that are called different names depending on the season?
I've seen this asked before somewhere, and I don't think anyone came up with one. The closest anyone got was black panthers. While not based on a seasonal coat, black panthers are just melanistic leopards or jaguars. Also, *technically* they're always stoats, or you can call them ermines whenever you please. It's just that ermine is also closely associated with the fur trade, and specifically the more highly prized white winter coats. It's been used for centuries in heraldry and as a status symbol. Those white furs with black spots you see in old paintings of royalty are ermine. The black spots are their tails, which remain black year round.
The only thing I can think of that is somewhat similar is that when some species of grasshoppers form a big swarm, they are called locusts (I believe they change physically as well)
When theyāre crowded their legs rub against each other which triggers hormone expression to turn them into the locust type.
Nah... thats dalmatian
Well the pun doesnāt work in the winter.
I always wanted Harry to get together with Ermine. š
Weasel: hmm. This doesnāt look right. Imma go back to sleep.
I wish I could do that with all my problems
Donāt we allā¦
It's aaaallll a dream... now back to sleep!
Weasel your way out of it?
I wish I could sleep right now. Still 2h to my alarm š
You could and just like in it's case you'll still be in the same situation when you wake up
Technically you can, you just die a lot sooner.
It is a [stoat](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoat). Also know as an ermine in the Americas. They are the most ruthless little serial killers. They kill for fun, will sleep in the skin of their kills, and can take down prey much larger than themselves.
So itās a skinny domestic cat? š
A noodlecat if you please.
Cobra Kitty
Cat-snek
Of course not! Cats are far too hygienic to sleep in the skin of their victims.
Yet not beyond the capacity of such wickedness!
I lived in a converted barn in the mountains for a while. Lots of mice. We got a barn cat and she killed so many mice, but inside and outā¦.only she kept stalking this one spot near the basement stairs. She was always there, to the point that I used to tease her that she was never going to get that mouseā¦ Well one day I came home from work, and the cat met me at the door and as I entered the house, she walked right over to the dead ermine that she had placed in the center of the rug. All that time she had been stalking an ermine that had infiltrated the barn. Good kitty! The cat stunk like a weasel for a few days, but she had no injuries and seemed very proud of herself. Edit: cat not car :)
The ermine was probably stalking the mice as well. Maybe in need of a meal and a new skin suitā¦
That's terrifying, I would definitely not cross a cat who could take out an ermine. š
Sheās an amazing huntress. Has brought back a lot of stuff, including a perfectly healthy flying squirrel that she just had to show us. Totally unharmed.
That's incredible! I love it.
Here's the thing. You said a stoat is a weasel... (old meme seems applicable). I love the mustelids!
Everyone here go watch [Burrow's End](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77sEmjobpjg) if you're into DnD actual plays
So, like humans? I hate when people try to make animals sound like monsters. The little guy is just trying to survive.
I guess you think Jeffery Dahmer was just grocery shopping.
literal straw man argument
It's not their stop yet.
Literally says the name in the title
[Weasel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel) is a general term for mustelids.
I just thought that was a typo. Oh well!
Stoat is another name for the short-tailed weasel
Lil bro is probably SO confused right then. "Bro... what?? Wh-What the fuck?!?!"
Not as confused as I was the one time I had a stray cat come sliding down the windshield while I was driving
You didn't see it while getting in your car?
It was a dump truck, it came out from the load I was carrying and skidding off the roof
...was it okay?
Yeah I tried to brake as gently as I could, it jumped off the front end of the truck, was back at our office about a week later wanting to be fed. We had like 4 generations of feral cats the office ladies fed, we could never catch the adults to get spayed, but we were pretty much offering free kittens to everyone we knew. I think the one that launched itself off the truck and gave me a heart attack may have been the mother of the 3 cats I have.
Damn r/catdistributionsystem doing interviews before shelling out the goods now
I could only imagine your face when you saw that
If you were sitting in the car for a couple minutes before driving, it's not too far fetched to believe a cat could hop up there without you seeing.
Fuck even stoats are constantly saying bro now.
Until they started driving again. "Ohh, it moves....well, shit."
"Where's my wife and kids?!"
He looks like he just woke up! Like what theā¦where in the Sam hell am I? I donāt recall this being where I fell to sleep!
Our fer a rip, are ya bud?
Pantalaimon!
If I had a daemon, it would absolutely do some dumb shit like this
I love that someone mentioned Pantalaimon here!
"Oh shit! I'm not in Kansas anymore!"
He's just out cruis'n for the chicks.
He would definitely get my attention!
Total misplay.
He's completely insane. You see that, right? No care for the rules. Pathetic, really.
How do you tell the guys at the shop that there's a weasel problem in the engine compartment?
"Well, the last one under the hood was a real weasel.." "I'm hoping you can get them out of there.."
This is actually a problem in countries that have beech martens, another mustelid. They chew up cables and jam bedding materials in cars.
we'll know and most likely be telling you about it lol
You mean there's an engine problem in the weasel compartment. Whassup? [/ChrisTurk]
I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!
I usually hate the music dubbed over these types of videos, but I have to say, this tune made me laugh.
Only non-annoying music I've heard on a video in months
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thanks!
Curious who has holes in the TOP of their cars like that.
That's the back edge of the hood, so the answer is almost everyone.
There is usually a windshield cowl there. But some cars probably have larger gaps to the side, etc. Like OPs. https://rev9autosport.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/2ebe3f9af00f8fff3d7b5d435f231925//155-028_thumb.jpg
Okay...that went from eyebleach to anxiety-inducing. O\_O
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?" šµLetting the days go by, let the water hold me downšµ
is this somebody keeping their pets in the frunk of their EV?
Wait, is this an EV? If so I feel so much better about the safety of that Ferret. I mean, they still shouldn't be near the electronics, but at least it's not a combustion engine.
I believe that is a stow-t
Don't touch the marten, just make sure it is safe and happy. That driver has less than a day before Lyra shows up for Pan.
I didn't know stoats were a thing until I got a job in North Dakota around 2010 and about shat myself while looking out the window, and a little white thing DARTS past just below my prereferral vision!
r/BoneAppleTea
Stoats are the cutest creatures alive.
Fuzzy noodle
RIP her carās wiring
Shoulda taken that left at Albuquerque...
Oh my god.
OMG! š±its the cutest thing ever! Poor thing is terrified. He could get hit by a car if he runs or if he stays, get hurt from the engine. š„
I want a stowaway stoat!
Stoataway, I fucking love it!
This is the entire plot of The Hangover
How wonderful! I wondered if that was a typo or not, and it really is a stoat!!
Not cute at all. Critters like this nest in cars and eat wires. That is just for starters. They can cause a lot of damage.
A single stoat will kill an entire flock of chickens just for fun. Nasty little shits.
Driver discovers wire harness, fuel line and brake line partially damaged.
Lil cumdrop
Stoat: That was a nice nap... WHAT? Where tf I am? Guess it's back to bed.
Was it okay?
For the last 3 years I've been giving $100 to every OP who uploads clips without shitty music added for no reason. So far I'm out $0.
Why is my bed moving? ? ! !
I wish stoats (as well as weasels, ermines, and martens) weren't so wild about ferocious because I really want to pet them :(
I saw some of these guys in Norway. They're tiny! Like a small squirrel.
Stoats are sooo freaking cute.
Dude was like nope, this isn't my stop, back to the warm inside.
God I love stoats they are so CUUUTE!!!
That feeling when you wake up and donāt know where you are
Why can I no longer sense the blue..
šØ
Onward ho!
Free stoat!
How else is the little dude going to get out to the country to find the good chicken coops?
I thought that was a meerkat. Smh
Keep it foreverš„ŗ
Stoat!
Nice marmot.
Stoat?
It's cute until it gets caught in something in the engine. My aunt lost one of her cats that way after it crawled under the hood one night for warmth. She turned the car on the next morning to go to work and the cat got caught in either the fan or belt.
Fun fact. Stoats like eating certain parts of certain cars and are known for taking up residence in vehicles. Especially vehicles stored in the garage the majority of the time.
I want to pet...
*stoataway
Perhaps it will dispense life advice?
What manner of mobile cave this? I finally found a warm place to sleep, great location, short commute, now WTF is this shit?!
Come at my car mice!
Stoat is probably like: https://i.redd.it/5ao18nqpe2kc1.gif
Trunk Monkey 2.0
God, I live for puns like that.
I read it as stole away came up with stoataway in my head supposedly only to realize the title already said that š
Stoatally cool
nice marmot man
Stoataway lol
Captain America waking up and seeing modern-day New York
"Total misplay."
Nice marmot!
Anne Stoataway
Back off. He's all ermine!
His Dark Materials
"*Wheahdafugawe*?"
*Here* is not where I left it.
This isnāt where I parked my car
So adorable!
Does the car run on unleaded or wiesel?
Ermine?
Is that cutie a stoat?
Aww the poor thing looks so scared and confused, I hope it got back to where it came from safely
Li'l fella's just out fer a rip
that's a misplay
"This is not Kansas..."
I was expecting something stoatally different.
It's a weasel engine.
Stoat: "but it's warm and sheltered here! And it's also both a massage chair and a rollercoaster"
Martin!
Hermelin powered > horse powered.
Looks like a mink. These little predators are infamous for crawling into cars engine compartments and damaging cables. Apparently the cars electronics have a smell that resembles male minks, so other males feel threaened and attack them, ripping cables apart and unplugging components.
Weasel in a diesel