I found the error of my ways. In case anyone else falls in to the same trap... my stat call was running from the current working directory which isn't the same as the directory that I am searching, I achieved the needed result by changing

my @stat = stat($subdir);
[download]

to

my @stat = stat(join("\\", $navigate,$subdir);
[download]

having eyes but never seeing...perhaps some day I will proudly declare "I am a programmer"