Ahahahaha. Ha. Nice.
That picture is so cute ^^

>ies say<
May I elp you?

That's a nice definition
I'm also wondering about the difference between the naming "stoat" and "ermine" ?

Ermine usually refers to stoats in their white winter coat.

I don't know if all stoat populations dress in white for winter. Mustela erminea has a lot of subspecies.

so cute :D

I wonder, has it become a stereotype, that most of the stoats on FA are english?

Cute one he is by the way, either that was taken up close or that's quite a big one.

I think that "stoats" that live outside England are usually called something else (short-tailed weasel, or ermine).

likely based on species, and such too :)

Depends on what you mean. In the U.S. and (to a lesser extent) Canada, Mustela erminea is just called "weasel" or, if specifications is needed, "short-tailed weasel".
Basically, the 3 main species of weasel are Mustela nivalis (weasel, least weasel, snow(y) weasel, common weasel), Mustela erminea (stoat, ermine, short-tailed weasel, whittrel), and Mustela frenata (weasel, long-tailed weasel, bridled weasel, Mustela longicauda). The last species lives only in the Americas, and features a longer tail than the other 2 species and (in some regions) has a ferret-like mask on its face.


As for etymologies:
"Mustela" is the Latin word for the least weasel (Mustela nivalis). There are many possible etymologies for the word, such as a descendent of a supposed Proto-Indo-European *mus-dhers-leh2 (mouse-carry_off-noun_ending, i.e. carrier-off of mice), and supposed pre-Latin mus-telus "mouse-as-long-as-a-spear". The former is more semantically likely, but isn't entirely watertight.
"Nivalis" is Latin for "snowy".
"Frenata" is Latin for "bridled" (i.e. the bridle of a horse, which is what the pattern of the facial fur of Mustela frenata often looks like)
"Longicauda" is Latin for "long-tailed". Mustela frenata used to be classified as Mustela longicauda.

"Weasel" has a long history: it comes from a Proto-Germanic "wisulōn" (which also produced Dutch "wezel" and German "Wiesel"), which in turn comes from an even older form, "wiselos" (which also produced Irish Gaelic "fíal", meaning "ferret"). This word was based on the root *wis-, meaning "musky, bad-smelling", which fits the weasel due to its ability to squirt horrible-smelling fluid from its anus, kind of like a skunk; "wiselos" may therefore be roughly translated as "Little stinker".

"Ermine" was for a long time believed to descend, via the French "hermine", from the Latin "Mus Armenius", "Armenian mouse"; supposedly, Armenia was overrun with ermines. Complete bullshit. In fact, the word is very old: while it IS taken from the French form, the term likely its origins about 3000-5000 years ago. Compare Old English "hearma", Old High German (yes, it's a language, not a senior puffing on weed in Berlin) "harmo", Romansch "carmún" (now replaced by "ermelin"), Lithuanian "šermuo" / "šarmuo" (now replaced by the diminutive (the endearing or "cutesy" form) "šermuonėlis"), and Latvian "sermulis" (another diminutive form); all these words mean refer to the same species. The reconstructed original would've been something like "k̑ormon" (high pitched "k" at the beginning), and had something to do with the frosty colour of the ermine's fur in the winter (compare the word "hoary", meaning "ice-grey", from the same root, *k̑er-/*k̑or-).

"Whittrel", a term used pretty much only in Scotland for Mustela erminea, is likely a conflation of "white" and "weasel".

Forgot one more etymology:
"Stoat". Pretty much anyone's guess where that comes from. It may be related to Old Norse "stutr", meaning "bull", but the possible connection of "male animal" is kinda weak.

nice job with getting the little bugger to sit still long enough to get a pic :D