Weasels!

[xheatherrr3]

Two days ago, I woke up to find two of my chickens (who I raised from chicks) had been attacked and eaten. The culprit? A weasel. I set a humane trap last night, but of course, the weasel found a way to get through it. I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with weasels and if there is any advice or tips that could be shared.

Thanks!

 

[MissJenny]

Good to see you here!

We had weasels when we lived in the country, but now that I'm in the city I've not heard of them here. What is your environment like?

Weasels can be pretty crafty -- the only way we ever caught them was with a cat. Other people who are more experienced might have better solutions, but our cat dragged home ten of them in two weeks. I'd say that's fairly efficient.

Jenny

 

[woodmort]

Yes--lost 15/18 last spring to a weasel. Fortunately they are easily live trapped using one of their victims as bait. There are a few other threads on here that offer help--see "Look at what my cat caught". These critters are adept at getting in through really small--1/2 and inch or so--opening. Fortunately they tend to be solitary, especially this time of year--except when mating and raising the young they're too mean to share territory. So if you eliminate the one you should be rid of the problem until another moves in. Find any openings and block them, if they are vents use hardware cloth with small mesh.

BTW Jenny, hang on to that cat. We've got 3 that are good hunters but won't mess with weasels.

Pic of my trapped weasel with head of EE he'd killed. He wasn't about to give that up.