Ermine... Best way to catch? Or kill!!!

[sarastamand]

I had an ermine wipe out my entire flock of 10! I have my new flock arriving (of 15....) on Valentine’s Day but we have YET to catch/kill this SOB! We have a hart trap set up, but we think he is too light as he set it off... but I saw him jumping between the rafters. We’ve secured the coop more, but are waiting to FULLY secure until we catch this less than 12” beast. I’m about to set up a rap trap - best bait? That I hopefully have on hand

I am NOT sending my new babies out there again until I know they are safe! And I want to catch this guy before they come so I can cancel the order if necessary. I believe he is making this his home and he is not welcome!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I use a live trap and use cat food as bait for weasels. You might have to fatten him up.

 

[sarastamand]

I did mean to say we set the trap up and he DID set it off... not with him inside though.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I did mean to say we set the trap up and he DID set it off... not with him inside though.

Try tying your bait to the trigger pad that way when it tries to run away with the food....

 

[Big Red Roosters]

Have any other pets? Your worst case scenario could be just to set out poisoned bait. Dont do it if you have other pets, not worth the risk.
Have any raw chicken? It appears the darned thing has quite the taste for it. Sorry about your chickens.

 

[sarastamand]

Have any other pets? Your worst case scenario could be just to set out poisoned bait. Dont do it if you have other pets, not worth the risk.
Have any raw chicken? It appears the darned thing has quite the taste for it. Sorry about your chickens.

I do have a dog, however, that still could be an option as I can “confine” the stupid ermine without my dog getting into the area. What do you suggest? I set the rat trap up tonight with salami and chicken. Hoping he will go for it. Unfortunately the hubs and I have the actual influenza so I don’t want to wake him up to help me with the big trap. This stupid weasel makes my blood boil though and I just want him gone!

 

[ThracianHorse]

Ermine are small enough you might try a tomcat rat-trap. Use raw chicken or cat-food for bait, and make sure he's really gotta work to get the bait out. Wire the chicken to the trap securely if you can, or scoop some cat-food into the middle so it has to touch the trap-mechanisim to get it.

https://www.tomcatbrand.com/en-us/products/rats/tomcat-rat-snap-trap

Avoid using poison if you can. You never know what might find it, or the dead ermine.

 

[cmom]

I hope you catch the varmint. We don't have them where I live so I'm no help. Good luck...

 

[Big Red Roosters]

I do have a dog, however, that still could be an option as I can “confine” the stupid ermine without my dog getting into the area. What do you suggest? I set the rat trap up tonight with salami and chicken. Hoping he will go for it. Unfortunately the hubs and I have the actual influenza so I don’t want to wake him up to help me with the big trap. This stupid weasel makes my blood boil though and I just want him gone!

I agree with the person who suggested a tomcat rat trap. I would try that first.

IF you use poison as the worse case scenario, use a kind WITHOUT bromethalin. Bromethalin is a neurological poison and can't be cured by vet if your dog accidentally got ahold of it. The tiniest amount will kill your dog.

 

[cmom]

I use rat bait with Bromadiolone in a rat bait box. It is designed to keep other critters out. I worked for me. I had a severe infestation in one of my coops. I renovated the coop and initially put a couple of baited rat bait boxes in the coop after I moved the birds and closed the coop up so nothing but the rats could get to the bait. I got rid of the rats. Many people won't use this bait but if used properly, it works. Usually the rats go back down into their tunnels and die. The rats go in and eat the bait. The red line shows the route to the rat bait.