That morning the stoat performed a series of jumps on the snow for a few minutes that it had not done the previous days. He seemed to be playing with the freshly fallen snow, making sudden jumps and crawling through the snow. 

Scientists have witnessed stoats (Mustela erminea) engaging in similar displays on many occasions, and they refer to the behavior as dancing, although their opinions are divided about what motivates the leaps and twists. Sometimes, the dances are performed in front of a rabbit or large bird in a seeming attempt to confuse or distract potential prey—a strategy that has proven effective in a number of documented interactions. At other times, as was the case in the display photographed, there is no prey animal in sight, and the dance seems simply to be an expression of exuberance. A third hypothesis is that the dances are actually an involuntary response to a parasitic infection, since stoats are known to be hosts for cranial parasitic worms.

Jose Manuel has been a wildlife photographer for 25 years and specializes in birds. He’s also worked on several studies on the migration of birds, which have been published in magazines such as Aedeola (Seo/Birdlife).

Follow Jose on Instagram @jm_grandio.