Weasel - gruesome detail warning. Need ideas to catch?

[BethanyS]

Did u ever get the weasle?

 

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Without a camera you don't know what ate the bait (could be mice, rats, chipmunks, all of which will eat cat food.) Whatever it was was small enough to squeeze through the trap, so you need a smaller trap with smaller mesh openings. Do a search on trapping weasels; there are some good sites out there. Good luck, and so sorry for your losses; I know how it feels!

+1

My ferrets, which are the large 3-5 pound kind, can squeeze through a 2 inch hole a wild weasel (which is my guess at this time of year, domestic ferrets aren't very cold tolerant) which is smaller can most certainly manage a 1 inch hole.

 

[haleyd]

For the next time this happens; try a live trap baited with canned tuna fish or canned cat food. That smelly food is really hard for most chicken predators to resist!

 

[FenikT]

Whatever the case, any wild animal which predates your chickens in the coop and gets trapped needs to be put down.

First, your chickens will become the primary food source (like shooting fish in a barrel).

Second, relocating small predators to new areas will likely result in their deaths in short order (unfamiliar with area, predated by larger predators, or killed while trying to integrate into resident peer population).

Lastly, turning trapping duties over to animal control is pretty much a guaranteed death warrant for any trapped wild animal. Animal control is not in the business of dumping weasels, raccoons, opossums, etc. in other parts of the city to cause problems there.

Wild animals which come to rely on garbage, poultry, or livestock don't suddenly revert to natural fauna (if located) and forget about those tasty, easy chickens... They will seek out what is easiest.

 

[theFox]

Google weasel box, build one bait it with bloody chicken liver.

 

[BethanyS]

aer these weasle parts?? We lost 1 of our 5 hens 3 nights ago. when I found her head had been chewed up and the poor roosters tail feathers had been pulled out in the fight. I figured it was a weasel thinking a raccoon or possum would have done more damage to my rooster. since then I have been putting them in a dog crate to sleep inside the coop. this morning I came outside to let them out an our cat followed me into the coop and did not want to leave. knowing the rooster would give him a hard time if I left him there I pulled the kitty out and let the chickens loose in the coop. when I came back to the front yard I noticed this

 

[bruceha2000]

Are these weasel parts?? I pulled the kitty out and let the chickens loose in the coop. when I came back to the front yard I noticed this

Hmmm, not the weasels we have up here this time of year - they are ermines, very white except for the eyes and tip of their tail. Probably about the right size though. Don't know what else would have a tail like that. Not fox, coon, possum, squirrel (unless it is a SMALL squirrel).

I found this picture of a weasel tail (gift from a cat to its owner):



Bruce

 

[Gypsi]

I never did catch mine. But it didn't like me leaving my dogs out to guard the run while I was working on it. And I found where it had been slipping between layers of screening and chickenwire to get in vertical openings, and tightened all that up. Left an old bird in the run, locked the young 4 in the coop, and pulled the dogs in. For now the weasel has gone away. As the only trap that works involves a live bird, and I'm short on those, settling for keeping the run secure for now. Good luck!

(I have one inch chickenwire on many areas and the weasel hasn't gotten through it, so it's head is too big. Go with the golfball to size openings, in my experience.)

 

[BethanyS]

i done a little online research. so far the only weasels I have seen in Tennessee are brown but the tail I found was grey. didn't see anything in the wildlife directory that would match it. all of the squirrel this time of year has big bushy tails... I wish now I had pick it up from the yard if it's still there when I get home I'm going to. either way Ill contact the game warden or park office

 

[Gypsi]

There are minks, fishers and weasels. I have never seen a mink or a fisher, but I have heard of them from northern friends. Weasels hereabout are brown, with black/white facial markings on one kind. That little tail could be mink, but then your question would be how big in diameter is the mink's head. Your game warden may have answers.