Found on my plot today a young Weasel. Couldn't see any marks on it, so didn't look as though it had been attacked.
Yes, I did bury it and held a service for it :)
Any ideas what could have killed it?
There was a dead fox cub on our site recently - same thing, healthy looking, no wounds. We wondered about slug pellets.
Maybe it ate something which had been poisoned, maybe it was sick, maybe it even starved, as small predators live pretty marginal lives.
Could have died from eating poisoned rats. It's a particualr problem for red kites, but I guess weasels wouldn't refuse a munch on a carcass either. There used to be a lab that collected poisoned animals for analysis but I don't think the scheme runs now.
Agree that it is more likely to be secondary poisoning, or cat attack as they rarely show wounds on small mammals.
Thank you for your replies.
Sad really as it was a cute little weasel.