Please help me kill this ermine-nothing is working!

[centrarchid]

You will not be shooting when critter is on the run. What I do is watch for where it peeps out of a whole and have weapon trained on that spot. If shooting in the open, do so when it is basically standing in place which they do a lot. Wear glasses.

 

[ShannonR]

Ok... I gotta ask... for those suggesting shooting it... how do you manage to shoot such a small critter in a building without wrecking stuff, and without risking injury due to ricochet?

I have nothing against guns... I have many... I guess I might attempt it with a pellet gun as some suggested... but I don’t own one of those.... 410s and 22s seem risky unless you catch it out in the open... which seems unlikely for a weasel.

And I’m not asking to be contrary... I’m just puzzled... maybe because my brother and I once shot holes in the barn roof when we were shooting a screech owl that was killing our young birds when we were kids... but the idea of shooting a weasel in a coop seems tricky.

Collateral damage. Sometimes it's worth it.

 

[ShannonR]

I'm state female pistol champion. As for others, collateral damage from small caliber shells or shot is easily repairable- and worth it if you get the stupid varmint that's been driving you mad!

My thoughts exactly, so long as you know what's behind where you are shooting I think it's worth it.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

.... As for others, collateral damage from small caliber shells or shot is easily repairable- ....

I guess this is part of the answer to what I was asking... and indeed if folks are okay with a few extra holes poked in their things, then I'm certainly okay with it too.

But I was more concerned with whether folks were considering the fact that there is a strong chance of the bullet or shot pellets passing through shed/coop walls, or ricocheting, or fragmenting and ricocheting, etc. My coop and shed have enough metal tools and shelves, etc. on the walls that I know there would be high change of this.

Just be safe and understand that those 22s, even 22 shorts and many subsonics, have a pretty high change of passing through a shed wall when shot at under 10ft.... and different loads and different brands even, often shoot differently from the same gun, so the chance of collateral damage and hitting a nearby object that causes a ricochet goes up.

22 CB caps might be a good bet for a single projectile, but I've never had them shoot very consistently and accurately even at close distances, and the low velocity lends to ricochets.... also be aware their is some risk of the projectile not having enough umph to clear a rifle barrel, which creates a dangerous situation when you don't realize and shoot again.... so maybe pistols and revolvers only?

There are powderless 22 rounds that just use the primer as propellant... so maybe that's a good option... but again ricochets... I've never shot these, so don't know much about them, but have looked them over at the store, and noticed it says right on the box not to shoot them from a rifle, due to the fact they are likely not to have enough power and will get stuck and again creates the dangerous situation when you don't realize and shoot another shot.

Bird shot and rat shot are maybe the best options... I guess I kind of dismissed them due to the issues with fouling the barrel rifling which then causes accuracy issues when going back to shooting single projectile rounds, but I know it's not a concern for others.

So thanks for all the answers.... and again be safe.... and be careful not to get too "target locked" and forget to think about:

• what's in front of your target
• what's behind your target (and will it stop the projectiles)
• ... and I guess when shooting in cluttered coop or shed, what's next to your target (in case you miss)!

( also, sorry to the OP if I've derailed the thread )

 

[centrarchid]

In my settings, the projectile is slowed greatly by going through the target. When hunting small stuff in situations like a barn, the pump BB gun was not pumped all the way up so had good killing power with penetrating things like tin used on side of barn. BB's ricocheted easily, pellets not so much because a lot of energy absorbed as pellet deformed.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

But I was more concerned with whether folks were considering the fact that there is a strong chance of the bullet or shot pellets passing through shed/coop walls, or ricocheting, or fragmenting and ricocheting, etc.

I would only shoot when I know there's no chance of that (like hanging up in the hay loft looking down to rats on the ground; a miss or pass through would go into dirt; you only shoot when they're standing still, too fast otherwise).

 

[WthrLady]

When I'm lying in wait for a critter, I keep a mouse in distress squeaker in my mouth. To get the animal to pop it's head up for the split second I need, I give a squeak, they stop, look up and bye bye.

 

[aart]

a mouse in distress squeaker in my mouth.

A mouse in your mouth?!?!?....ewwwww.

I know, not a real mouse.....sorry am a bit punch drunk this evening, moved snow all day.

 

[BY Bob]

We had this issue when I was young. My father and I caught a weasel pulling a chicken out of the coop. I put the flashlight on him and my dad pulled the trigger as soon as the weasel lit up. He had just shot the weasel with a 12 gauge shot gun, from the hip. Cut the weasel in half. I figured the hen was dead but was willing to accept that as the threat was ended. Turns out, the hen was unscathed just stunned.

A shot gun is very effective and there are no bullets going through walls. You also don't have to be as accurate as my dad to hit your target.

 

[Vhope77]

This little *bleep*er
View attachment 1649187

has killed 14 of my birds so far. Lost 12 in June. They had been free ranging in a large fenced area and it attacked during the day and killed all but two who flew over the fence and escaped.

It came back a week later into a secure run (not secure enough I guess) and killed another.

We spent the summer building a new Fort Knox run with hardware cloth everywhere. I boarded up their coop as best as I could - and it came and killed another one in October. More boarding up/securing, set two traps (one have a hart, one I made out of wood), nada.

In July we started a new flock that has just started laying. On Saturday it got in again and killed a pullet. As I was investigating how it got in it came right in the front door of the shed that is attached to the coop & tried to get past me to do more murdering. Broad daylight, not afraid of me at all! I took this picture of it in my shed while I was trying to trap it.

I brought the birds all into the garage (in pens/cages) so I could try to trap it. Nada.

We ended up adding rat poison to the body of the victim and putting it in plain sight in the shed. That night it ate more of the victim, but obviously didn’t die from poison because it came in the garage today and tried to get into one of the pens. I heard the panic squawking and got there in time to prevent any more loss. It escaped the way it got in, which is surely some small crack I can’t see.

So now my 11 surviving chickens are all in my kitchen and it’s -10 degrees F outside with 2 feet of new snow and I am at my wit’s end.

What else can I possibly do? Nothing I do can keep it out. I need to kill it. What has worked for you?

If I wouldn’t die of hypothermia I’m ready to sit out there all night with a shotgun.

Just had one in the chicken coop today they are very brave ! I noticed it peak it’s head under the barn door and look at me when I went in it sat right I front of me staring at me while I stared at it I got My old man and he shot it with a pellet gun a few times and that was that luckily we noticed it before it got any chickens I’ve noticed mice and the whole mouse trap going missing he must have been in the barn for awhile my advice would be to wait in the bar quietly till he comes it and shoot it with a pellet gun