Photographer Robert E. Fuller is used to catching amazing wildlife on camera – just last year, he managed to photograph a rare black fox near his UK home. But the latest critter to catch his eye is a bit more commonplace: a wild weasel. What the furry little mammal is doing, however, is rarely captured on film. 

The animal had been slinking around Fuller's garden for some time, so he decided to build a makeshift nest for her. She opted to use it, but after a stoat (a much bigger weasel) came sniffing around, it was time to relocate the entire family. Thanks to Fuller's sneaky surveilance gear, we get to see the hyperactive operation unfold. 

"When I first discovered I had a female weasel in my garden, I seized the opportunity to use CCTV cameras that I had trained on bird’s nests at the time to study her," he explains on his blog. "But the project soon grew and before long I had 12 cameras tracking every moment."

As you can see, weasels take a no-nonsense approach when it comes to getting the job done. A move like this puts both mother and babies at risk of being spotted by predators, so it needs to happen fast. The babies were moved one by one, until the entire family was safe behind Fuller's shed. 

"All that most people have ever seen of a weasel is of it flashing across the road before disappearing into the undergrowth," he says. "And they are generally the subject of a very poor press. The very word 'weasel' is used to denote a sneaking and untrustworthy character. And yet I can’t help but admire this tiny creature’s ferocity."

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Top header image: Bryant Olsen/Flickr