Mustelids......and why the Least Weasel can kill a chicken.

[aart]

Just watched this PBS Nature show, it's pretty good.
Most interesting for chicken owners might be the part about the strength of the Least Weasels bite strength.
Stronger than most all carnivores despite being the smallest one.
Bite info is at about 47:00 minutes, iff'n you don't want to watch it all.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-mighty-weasel-yne7yt/21226/

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've witnessed mink hunting and killing chickens during the day. They are so fast and when they finally get a bite on the neck, they just hold on till the bird is dead no matter what is going on in the vicinity. The last attacking mink was at about 9 AM. It was running amok among a flock of approximately 3 month old cockerels/pullets.
It finally caught a cockerel by its neck and by the time I reached it, two other cockerels were attacking the mink to no avail. It wasn't giving up its prey and didn't care I was there.
I stomped the mink to death but it wasn't easy since it had rained so much the ground was very soft. Good thing I was wearing boots because he let go of the cockerel to bite my foot.
I thought the cockerel was dead but after carrying the mink away, the cockerel jumped up and flew up into some brush. He freaked out when I walked past with the mink in hand.

 

[aart]

emmer-effing

Great spelling!!

 

[Howard E]

Interesting program. What would also be interesting is the backstory of how a whackadoodle like Rob wound up on a country estate in the midst of a mustelidae research farm......who financed it and why. Beyond that, pretty typical of PBS nature films......gotta give the animals cute names and present them in favorable light so viewers are rooting for the poor soul.

The bite thing was interesting, but they left out some of the critical stuff......like the role weasels and stoats have to play in nature.......how they kill and how many at once and why. Showing a wholesale slaughter of a colony of rats....a good thing.....or a flock of chickens......not so much.

As interesting as the bite thing was how they are able to shape shift to enable them to get into small tight places and still move along at a fast clip. So to keep one of those 6" least weasels out of a coop takes some doing. That would be lethal 6" least weasel.

 

[Molpet]

I watched that program too
and was wondering the same. He is an artist .. and it appears not starving
https://www.robertefuller.com/acatalog/About.htmlhttps://www.robertefuller.com/diary/designing-a-wildlife-garden-the-history-of-fotherdale-farm/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E_Fuller

 

[Mosey2003]

Two winters ago we had a Least Weasel in our HOUSE. My mother had had 3 heart attacks, a small stroke, and a deep brain bleed, amongst other issues, and had been in the hospital and rehab for months. She had been home for, oh.....3 weeks? when I got a frantic phone call while I was at work. Now, mind, I felt like she was having some dementia and the like from the lack of oxygen after the heart attacks and some of the medication didn't sit well, so when she called and said there was a huge white mouse running around her feet while she was on the toilet, I was not especially apt to believe that was the exact situation. Dad returned home shortly after and confirmed there was definitely a large white rodent, but it wasn't a mouse. I thought maybe someone had dumped a pet rat off. Got home and encountered it, and by golly it was the tiniest weasel I've ever seen in my life (also the only weasel I've ever seen). Nobody believed me.

Fast forward to two weeks ago - something is getting into my barn and into my outdoor pen and killing my growouts and breeders. Clearly an emmer-effing mustelid of some variety. I REALLY hope it wasn't a Least Weasel, because I'm not confident I can really fence the barn that well. I set the live trap, it went in and played with the bait but did not eat it or trip the trigger. I have since procured a mink/squirrel tube trap, it hasn't been triggered. Also built a mink box for a 110 conibear, but it needs some modification. Covered the sliding barn door with plywood, already had a hardware cloth skirt attached. Haven't had an attack since doing that, but I know they tend to 'make rounds' so will have to stay vigilant. It was coming after I fed at 6am and went to work, sneaky little ****.

I hate them.

 

[Mosey2003]

Great spelling!!

I don't know who I first heard use it that way but it stuck and it's now my favorite

 

[aart]

What would also be interesting is the backstory of how a whackadoodle like Rob wound up on a country estate in the midst of a mustelidae research farm

Was thinking the same....obsessive passionate hobby funded by who knows<shrugs>

And yes the pretty pictures are enjoyable, but those shows always leave me with many questions and wanting more info.

As interesting as the bite thing was how they are able to shape shift to enable them to get into small tight places and still move along at a fast clip. So to keep one of those 6" least weasels out of a coop takes some doing. That would be lethal 6" least weasel.

Those were the best parts for sure, and why I shared here.
The bite thing is fascinating!
Smallest and yet most lethal bite of all carnivores.
The comparisons to larger carnivores was incredible.
I collected skulls back in the day, so was drooling at that collection.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I watched that episode twice.
I've lived here for decades and never seen one.
Am glad to not have had to experience the bite first hand with my chickens.

An acquaintance has a pet ferret. They sure are cute. GC

 

[Folly's place]

It was a very interesting program! I also watched last week's NOVA, about dogs, and this weeks show about cats, right after the Nature program.
In one hour, a lot interesting material is left out, can't be helped. A six hour show would be good, but not feasible.
Mary