Please help me kill this ermine-nothing is working!

[dalasgalas]

But 15 foot rats makes a much more exciting story...

Easier to catch too!

 

[dalasgalas]

I wasn't very sorry. Scratch that, I wasn't sorry at ALL. It killed two out of three of my ducks, which I loved dearly, and the third later died of complications from the attack. Those birds were my obsession.

I have no problem dispatching rodents. I chased down a rat in my house three weeks ago and crushed it's nasty skull with my work clogs right in the hallway. Damn thing screamed it's head off while I chased it around the house for damn near a 1/2 hour with the help of my 4 cats. I can take a lot, rats, nope nope nope. Thing came into the house using a very small hole behind the fridge I missed when installing dry board. I squirted so much foam in there that anything else living in that area is good and sealed in there.

 

[Kris5902]

Thank you
I’m a total softy city girl turned rural Vermonter - most of my family is vegetarian & animal lovers. And I still have murder in my heart for this weasel. It has been sentenced to death for crimes against poultry!

Sometimes death is kinder than the alternatives... after I posted this we drove down and fed our cattle on the way to the far end of the property my cats are living at while I build our house. Halfway there I saw a dead goat (feral) by our road (on our property, private road, not breaking any laws!) I got out to look it over cause it’s a strange place for it and I couldn’t see anything obvious.

Not dead... down, being pecked and eaten alive from the back end by eagles and ravens, clearly suffering. Had to get my father in law to come shoot it for kindness sake. (It was about 2 minutes drive to his cabin from the goat, if he wasn’t half deaf I could’ve yelled for him)

Death is very much a part of life, and being in the country and working with livestock teaches you that pretty quick. Being in Canada, our gun control laws mean we can’t open carry, or drive around even our own property with weapons without a good reason (hunting). It’s also a lot harder to buy a gun here. I still think it’s something very valuable to be proficient at, because you never know when the situation may come that you need to do do something like that yourself.

Just think, if you had the skill set and weapon available... by the sounds of it you would’ve already nailed this little chicken murdering flea bag! Welcome to the country... I’ve only been on our farm since 2017, you’ll be amazed how quickly you can change those city sensibilities!

 

[mcclucker]

That’s a terrible story. Yes, nature is pretty gruesome and a quick death is the best option sometimes. I’ve been here 12 years, definitely deal with things I never thought I would!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

ugh, shoot it! sorry for your loss!

Agree! Use your shotgun wisely! It should be afraid of humans and if its not it might be a released pet or, worse, it may has rabies. Off with the head!

 

[Howard E]

Been following OP's plight, hoping for success. Since the battle remains ongoing, I'll throw in my 2 cents.

If you are able to visually see this guy and can approach close enough to dispatch with a gun, your A#1 weapon of choice is a .410 shotgun. A load of #4 shot, center body mass, and he is a goner, yet little collateral damage to the other surroundings. No better weapon has ever been devised for a fast moving target at close range.

On your weasel box trap, since it is not interested in the bait, but is interested in gaining access to your pens, set your weasel box up in such a way to make him think it is a pathway into the house. It won't be, but he will see it as a hole to get in. Set it up right by where he has been trying to break in. Even in the hole if need be, but block it off on the other send so he can't get in through the box. Then rat trap, etc. He crawls in through the hole, steps on the trap's trigger pad and that is that.

You can do the same with a body grip trap over openings he has been trying to use, but a Duke 110 is a bit large for an ermine, plus as traps go, the triggers on the Dukes are horrible out of the box and need to be tuned to work. But aside from that, an ermine is probably small enough to get past the trigger on most 110 traps. You could set it up as a pan trigger, but he still may not trip it. Better to get a size 50/55, or better yet, they come as small as 3 x 3, which is more like a weasel size.

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/BCSQ3.html

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSBCRBG2.html



A 110 trap is lower left, 50 lower center, the 3 x 3 is lower right and 2 1/2" round body grip is upper right. Problem with body grip traps this small is they are powerful traps, so triggers are not as sensitive as say a wooden rat trap.....but if your varmint is aggressive and trying to punch through, he should set it off and if he is in there when it goes off, he will be dead. If your finger is in there when it goes off, it will be broken. Again, one way to use these is to simply block off any openings he has been trying to use and if he punches through he sets it off. Keep in mind if these are out in the open, anything can get to them, so anything can set them off. They won't discriminate. The very best place for these would be up high off the ground over some hole he has been using to come and go.

To get the oil coating they shipped with off, I soak my new traps in a 50:50 mix of Purple Power degreaser (automotive section of Walmart) and boiling water. Let soak about 10 minutes then rinse them off in the sink, then let dry. A real trapper would probably then coat them with wax, but I don't use mine like they do, so haven't bothered.

So......order of progression.....modify your weasel box first to make it a pass through trap. .410 shotgun second.... if you can handle it......and body grip if all else fails. Or if seriously pissed off, all of the above. Good luck!!!

 

[Howard E]

PS: A 110 body grip, except one with two springs, making it a 120, is more appropriate size for a mink.

This video explains it better than I could.......looks to be a 220 trap, but problem is the same. Weasel is dancing past the trigger with impunity....trap is too large for the weasel.

 

[robson1015]

If the little jerk is not afraid of you, a pellet gun will dispatch him easily. When I was a youngin with no sense I lived in a house with 15' rats (from head to tail) running through it. Shooting them with a pellet gun was great fun. (the house was cheap; what can I say?)

15 foot rats - yikes !!!!!

 

[WindingRoad]

Sometimes death is kinder than the alternatives... after I posted this we drove down and fed our cattle on the way to the far end of the property my cats are living at while I build our house. Halfway there I saw a dead goat (feral) by our road (on our property, private road, not breaking any laws!) I got out to look it over cause it’s a strange place for it and I couldn’t see anything obvious.

Not dead... down, being pecked and eaten alive from the back end by eagles and ravens, clearly suffering. Had to get my father in law to come shoot it for kindness sake. (It was about 2 minutes drive to his cabin from the goat, if he wasn’t half deaf I could’ve yelled for him)

Death is very much a part of life, and being in the country and working with livestock teaches you that pretty quick. Being in Canada, our gun control laws mean we can’t open carry, or drive around even our own property with weapons without a good reason (hunting). It’s also a lot harder to buy a gun here. I still think it’s something very valuable to be proficient at, because you never know when the situation may come that you need to do do something like that yourself.

Just think, if you had the skill set and weapon available... by the sounds of it you would’ve already nailed this little chicken murdering flea bag! Welcome to the country... I’ve only been on our farm since 2017, you’ll be amazed how quickly you can change those city sensibilities!

Maine recently passed a law that we can conceal carry without a permit. Funny thing is we have had open carry for I don't know how long but many places you can't drink a beer outside a restaurant . Go figure.

 

[Kris5902]

I don’t necessarily agree with concealed carry, or even open carry in most places, like cities and towns, but in the country I do think it’s not inappropriate. Especially in bear/cat country! I do not want to run into a grizzly up north doing wood for my uncle, and if I’m going out back you can be sure I’d be armed!