how do you catch a weasel?

[325512]

He DID come back at the same time at 4:00am, but no more. This photo shows how close I came to catching me. Still seems too big to be a weasel!

 

[Maeschak]

He DID come back at the same time at 4:00am, but no more. This photo shows how close I came to catching me. Still seems too big to be a weasel!

Man oh man so close! And yeah, maybe not a weasel but from what I have read the whole family are killing machines... weasels, minks, etc... they just kill kill kill and get in through the tiniest of places.

 

[Howard E]

On a live trap of that type, it sometimes helps to block off the sides and end with the bait. If they can get to the bait from the outside, they may be able to sniff it from there and not have to go in to check it out. But if the end and sides are blocked off (cardboard, towel, rug, whatever), they may have to go in to get near it.

If a person used a live critter as bait, it does not have to be in the trap. Only next to the end of the trap. Block off all sides and the end so they can see, smell and hear the bait or bait animal, but the only way to get at it is to enter the trap. Best use I've seen for that trick was to catch a fox. Live chicken was placed in a second trap that butted up against the end of the trap being used. Both where then covered completely by an old tarp. Only way for the fox to get a clean shot at the chicken was to enter the trap. It got him.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

well am getting my trapping license this year (in the process of taking the course right now) to be able to trap them weasels we have and then i can sell there pelts for some profit.

but on topic there are many ways to catch a weasel here where you need a fur licence to be able to trap weasels (yet you can shoot them if they hurt your live stock), but you can use any type of meat as bait, they say tainted meat (rotted meat) works best.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

He DID come back at the same time at 4:00am, but no more. This photo shows how close I came to catching me. Still seems too big to be a weasel!

that looks like it could be a mink judging by the size of it, or could be a monster weasel.

 

[chicknmania]

WE have a weasel or a mink (I think maybe mink, bc it is pretty big) in our barn. Help what do you use for bait!? PLEASE someone answer soon! It killed our beautiful white rock hen last night, and I saw it stalking the others today.

 

[chicknmania]

Is there anything I can use to try to scare it off? I threw a water jug at it when I saw it, but it just ran back in the barn.

 

[Maeschak]

WE have a weasel or a mink (I think maybe mink, bc it is pretty big) in our barn. Help what do you use for bait!? PLEASE someone answer soon! It killed our beautiful white rock hen last night, and I saw it stalking the others today.

I read that mink like raw fish (weasel's like bloody meat). If you can't outright kill it via shooting or the like, you will have to put down traps of some sort as I do not think there is much that will scare off a mink/weasel if it knows a good meal is nearby.

You should try to figure out if it is a mink or weasel- knowing that will help you catch it as each animal has different habits. I have no clue how to catch a mink, but for weasels you can make a 'weasel box' (google it) or get a smaller have-a-heart trap and bait with bloody meat or your dead chicken. If using the have-a-heart trap, make sure to wrap a towel or something around the trap to simulate a small cave/burrow because weasels like to invade burrows and eat mice/voles/etc.

Good luck, both animals are vicious and voracious killers.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

WE have a weasel or a mink (I think maybe mink, bc it is pretty big) in our barn. Help what do you use for bait!? PLEASE someone answer soon! It killed our beautiful white rock hen last night, and I saw it stalking the others today.

i would use fish or chicken blood as bait, as it has a taste for chicken blood/flesh i would go with that.

Is there anything I can use to try to scare it off? I threw a water jug at it when I saw it, but it just ran back in the barn.

i would recommend trapping it, i would use a live trap for a mink the other method is well kinda dangerous around a farm so am not going into it. (its more of a trappers method for fur not for protecting animals) but as a trapper (or well going to be a trapper) i would advise either using fish or mink lure (both could be found at stores either supermarket or your local cabelas might have mink lure mine does) then i would dispatch the animal (as it killed your chicken, where i live after it kills one of your animals you can legally dispatch it) or if its a weasel then go with the weasel box set up use fish or weasel/mink lure. (i used chicken blood in my traps but i did not get anything this season)

but hope i could help.

 

[chicknmania]

i would use fish or chicken blood as bait, as it has a taste for chicken blood/flesh i would go with that.
i would recommend trapping it, i would use a live trap for a mink the other method is well kinda dangerous around a farm so am not going into it. (its more of a trappers method for fur not for protecting animals) but as a trapper (or well going to be a trapper) i would advise either using fish or mink lure (both could be found at stores either supermarket or your local cabelas might have mink lure mine does) then i would dispatch the animal (as it killed your chicken, where i live after it kills one of your animals you can legally dispatch it) or if its a weasel then go with the weasel box set up use fish or weasel/mink lure. (i used chicken blood in my traps but i did not get anything this season)

but hope i could help.

WEll I'm sure it's a mink, the more I think about it it was too big to be a weasel. . I'm reluctant to set the trap now, because there was a skunk in the barn this evening. The skunks I'm not as worried about, yes, I know they sometimes will kill a chicken, but we haven't had any problems with skunks for a long time...years...as far as killing a chicken. They are always around this time of year and They are a pain eating the eggs but that's all so far. We have a small (large rat size) hav a hart trap, which I'm pretty sure is big enough for a mink, but is it too small for skunk? I don't want to trap a skunk. I am pretty sure the mink has been targeting us...at first I suspected fox...because we've lost three others since January..they just disappeared without a trace. We have, in the past been successful in discouraging fox from returning...and I have heard they are hard to discourage too, but we were able to. The mink was pretty scared when I confronted it, it literally didn't see me til I was about four feet away from it, so it was plenty startled. I'm just worried the trap will attract the mink back, and then it won't go in, but it will kill more chickens, where otherwise MAYBE it might stay away if we keep trying to discourage it?? You see what I'm saying? I'm just trying to find the most foolproof way, if we are going to trap it. I would never use a leghold trap on any animal. So is the small Havahart one big enough for a mink but too small for a skunk, and how valid are my concerns?