Today turned out to be pretty nice, for a Spring day. It was one of those good cycling days, so I decided to...go for a cycle. Whilst out and about, I was reminded that I'm more a country boy than I am a city boy.

Away from the villages, i was surprised to come across a kind of cross between sqeauling and squeaking, coming from the side of the road. I promptly stopped (no cars around) and took my bike off the road, looking for the source of these (what sounded like) distressed noises. I admit, i fully expected to find some little mouse or similar small mammal being tormented or just having been caught by a cat. I have a soft spot for cats, but I can't deny they can be evil. I suppose it's something to do with the remains of their hunting instincts still needing some form of outlet.

Anyway, it didn't take long for me to spot movement in the thick grass and stuff growing on the verge. The road had a ditch either side, and on this side the verge was quite wide, so after the ditch there was a stretch of grass before the road itself. Well, two brown things suddenly jumped across the bottom of the ditch (it's not deep, and empty of water, and has the grass growing all the way into it and up the other side). The squeaking had stopped, then one of the things seemed to appear from out of the ground, sticking most of its body up above the grass. Of course by now I was still and silent, not wishing to disturb these things in whatever they were doing. The creature didn't look at me at first, instead looking off to my left, and only seemnig to notice me as its gaze swept around. It looked at me for a few moments, then - I assume it realized I wasn't going to try and eat it - it carried on scurrying through the grass, the other following (but not bothering to take a scouting look), and shortly after this, they both disappeared further into the thick grass.

Having checked some websites, I'm almost certain they were a couple of weasels. They looked like mice with elongated bodies, and didn't have the more pointed snouts that shrews apparently have. I wasn't sure they were big enough to be weasels, but I've never seen either before (except possibly as unidentifyable roadkill) so I stand to be corrected. I cursed myself for not having my camera, but it's unlikely it'd have helped me, as it plays up alot these days so it's likely I wouldn't have got it working in time to get a snap. It's a real shame because when the one appeared from the grass and looked around, it was no more than a metre away from me, probably closer.
And I love it when this kinda stuff happens.