- Lifespan
- 5–10 years in the wild, occasionally longer in captivity
- Size & Weight
- Body length 20–27 cm (males larger than females); tail 7–12 cm; weight 200–450 g
- Habitat
- Open countryside, farmland, woodland edges, moorland, and coastal areas with access to suitable prey populations.
- UK Distribution
- Found throughout mainland Britain and Ireland, though absent from some intensively farmed areas; resident year-round with populations that may be locally migratory.
- Diet
- Carnivorous, feeding primarily on small mammals including rabbits, hares, voles, mice, shrews, and occasionally birds, frogs, and insects.
- Prey
- Rabbits, mountain hares, voles, mice, shrews, weasels, stoats, birds (especially gamebirds), frogs
- Predators
- Birds of prey (golden eagles, buzzards, hen harriers), foxes, badgers, domestic dogs, and occasionally larger mustelids
- Mating Season
- June to August (with delayed implantation until spring)
- Breeding
- Single litter of 6–12 kits born March to May after delayed implantation; gestation approximately 280 days; kits weaned at 12 weeks; independent by autumn
- Behaviour
- Highly active predators with rapid, bounding gait and remarkable agility; solitary and territorial; will perform a distinctive 'war dance' (jumping and twisting) to confuse or distract prey. Males have larger territories than females and are polygamous.