Viscious little whotsits

I was very excited about two months ago when I identified a stoat in my garden, feeding under my bird feeder for about 30 minutes.  Pretty animal, lovely face.
Now I have a different view since my resident, old lady hedgehog, came out of her house with her front leg missing.  It was like a surgical amputation and the leg was nowhere to be found.  She had to be put down as a hedgehog cannot survive minus a front leg.  It was not a rat as the wound (such as it was) could not have been caused by their gnawing teeth. It was a mystery until I asked my neighbour if he had seen anything unusual around as regards wildlife. He had been seeing a stoat every morning. I think the stoat probably pulled Petal's paw through the mesh up to the shoulder.  Petal couldn't pull it back or it was dislocated and the stoat bit it off. I doubt that hedgehogs would normally fall prey to a stoat but Petal was old and vulnerable.