Do Dogs Scare Weasels

[grichard]

 

[sourland]

Nothing much scares weasels. They are persistent, blood thirsty killers. A good barn cat is capable of killing a weasel.

 

[Birdydeb]

They might not be scared but a showdown between a weasel and the OP's dog? My money is on the dog....

 

[bigoledude]

Weasels are stealthy little creatures. They would never make a stand against any dog. Would the presence of a dog keep weasels away? I wouldn't bet the life of my chickens on it!

They are nocturnal for the most part. This is indicative of their nature to avoid man and confrontation with domestic guard animals. Dogs, donkeys, geese, llamas or whatever you use to alarm you of danger lurking.

A weasel will often squeeze through the most incredibly small opening in your coop and kill EVERY CHICKEN in the coop. The number of chickens killed in one nighttime attack, by one weasel can be staggering! The only good thing is that weasels are relatively easy to trap. If you are sure you are dealing with a weasel and not another member of the weasel family, makes the trapping even easier.

Go on YouTube and watch as many videos on "trapping weasels" as you can find. You can find more videos on trapping fishers, martins and mink. The techniques for one will work on the others. You may need larger traps for the bigger offender. There is enough excellent info on the subject to make you an expert trapper. You might suffer a serious loss upon the first attack. However, once you deploy the methods you've learned, it's over for the little demon!

 

[Birdydeb]

I did say in my reply...."in a showdown" which assumes my dog or OP's dog realizes the weasel Is there. Truthfully, because of the stealth of a weasel they are a predator that concerns me because I do realize they might slip past my dogs. The presence of the dogs more than likely doesn't scare weasels. I agree. Bummer. I do stand by my dogs IF the weasel doesn't sneak by. I watched the two of them go ballistic before because the farmer behind me mowed his hayfield causing an onslaught of field mice to run through my back fence. They were relentless chasing mice down and killing them. Who needs a cat? LOL But I know some slipped by. Bigoledude, I guess just wishful thinking on my part. My 82 year old father just reminded me that my flock, that I am on the verge of putting outside, is at it's most vulnerable. I am not sure what we have....mink? It was long, black and slinky like a ferret. I keep thinking I have most bases covered with the hardware cloth, skirting, netting, etc. and then I remember that mink/weasel that I saw. Not sure how I would hook up some electric fence too because there is no electric anywhere near the coop.

 

[Folly's place]

Your flock is most at risk at night roosting in their coop. Make it predator proof!!! No openings bigger that 1/2 inch anywhere, to keep predators, including weasels, out. In daytime, birds can run or fly away, and major losses are much less likely. If there's a daytime problem, lock the flock in safely until the situation is resolved. Mary

 

[grichard]

Thank you all for the advice

 

[bigoledude]

There are several companies that offer a solar powered electric fence or, for an electric wire. Premier1 is the one most often mentioned here. They sell solar powered energizers powerful enough to deter cattle and horses and down to sizes for animals as small as weasels.

The mink is bigger than a weasel. If you are familiar with the Victor "RAT" trap, then if that trap is substantial enough to kill what you saw, it's probably a weasel. If the animal you saw looks too big for the :RAT" trap, you probably have a mink or another member of the weasel family.

 

[grichard]

Ok thx

 

[Birdydeb]

Thanks bigoledude. It was a mink I saw, way too big for a Victor rat trap. Lovely. Kinda figured that since we are only 4 miles from the river .....big river, not a creek. I will look into a solar powered electric fence. Two sides of my pen back up on my neighbor's field and he already has electric fence on those sides. Made putting the fencing up for our pen interesting in order to stay off the electric fence. Third side is the back of our garage so technically I would only have to electrify the fourth side looking into our backyard. His electric fence is set up for cattle though so lowest wire is pretty high from the ground. It is high enough to stop foxes or dogs and everything taller than that. I guess for a mink I would need a strand a lot lower. That fence line is getting crowded!