We've got a Weasel. Please Help!!!

[NYREDS]

Quote:
regular poultry netting won't keep a Weasel out, the holes are too big. It's amazing how small a space they can squeeze through.
Here's a link with great info on dealing with predators.



http://www.longshadowfarms.com/predator.html

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Here we've got mink. What I'll do is find the hole and drop a #110 over it. Maybe even set a bit of chicken beside and slightly down in the hole.Might work for a weasel as well.

 

[the Old Rebel]

Oh THANKS everyone for all your help and advice!

I haven't been able to get on BYC, because we've been working hard and fast to cover all of our pens with poultry wire. Now I find out that we used the WRONG SIZE!!

We think we caught him last night in a Hav-a-Hart trap, but he escaped. It is one of the larger traps meant for coons and possums, etc., so he was able to push the door sideways enough to get out. So my DH went to the store today and got a smaller one. He won't be able to push the door sideways on this one and when it slams shut, a bar drops down and locks it shut. Just PRAY, PLEASE, that we can catch him again.

My DH also built a trap that will kill the thing if it goes in there. I prefer the Hav-A-Hart method, but at this point, I'll take whatever I can get.

In the meantime, we've been moving all the birds from those pens into enclosures AWAY from the pens he's been coming to. They are not completely predator-proof yet, but we're working on it. Because of overcrowding, we have to move them back to these pens each morning. It's a LOT of work, but so far we haven't lost anyone else to this creature.

LynneP, I read your blog on "Think Weasel". It is excellent and helped me a LOT, but it is also soooooooo unnerving. We've NEVER had an enemy like this one.

I've done a lot of research on weasels and minks. This guy seems too big to get through 1" poultry wire, but I'm just kidding myself, aren't I?? We saw him the night he killed my Americana hen. It appeared to be coal black in the light from my flashlight. Do you think we are dealing with the kind of weasel you wrote about?? Could it possibly be a bigger version?? Am I grasping at straws??

WILL I EVER GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP AGAIN????

At this point I'm ready to bring all 76 birds into the house with me. Noah's Ark anyone?? I wonder if Noah had a weasel??

Again, thanks for all your help. I'll keep checking back in case anyone has more to offer.

Hope your day is going MUCH BETTER than mine.

 

[chicken truck]

Quote:
regular poultry netting won't keep a Weasel out, the holes are too big. It's amazing how small a space they can squeeze through.
Here's a link with great info on dealing with predators.



http://www.longshadowfarms.com/predator.html

This is very true! there is a way to get rid of but it is not suggested if you have any loose animals around . I'll pm you details.

 

[LynneP]

You're working hard to get this fellow- they like sardines, by the way. They're so clever and one has to admire their brains, if not their habits. Good luck! Oh and after you catch and keep one, assume there and more and keep the traps baited.

 

[Ryan81986]

Quote:
SSS

 

[LynneP]

Well yes, Ryan, so long as our neighbor the forest ranger looks the other way!!!

Any news on Old Rebel's weasel yet?

 

[trinityfly]

Members of the weasel family are very aggressive, bad for chickens but good for trapping. I have trapped several including a ring tail cat (a large member of the weasel family. They fall easily for a have a heart trap with some "chicken" inside. One ring tail cat I caught using a large fishing net.

See image of the fella I caught with a net:

 

[the Old Rebel]

We still haven't caught the bugger. We've been moving all the birds to "safer" quarters every night and then moving them back to their pens in the day. My DH has worked himself to death trying to make the houses safer. But I still have birds that are potentially vulnerable. I'm just praying a LOT!!!

We've got three traps set HOPING to catch the guy.

My life will NEVER be the same. 10 years of birds with no weasels or minks and suddenly we have one. They're doing a lot of logging around us. I figure they are destroying habitat and forcing the creatures to relocate. Our neighbor saw a bobcat cross the road just below our house the other night. Maybe the bobcat will take out the weasel/mink. I THINK our pens are safe from a bobcat. But what do I know??? I'm on the learning curve and always will be, I guess.

Anyway, THANKS everyone for your suggestions, love, support, good thoughts, and prayers. Trust me, the whole world will know when we get this guy.

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL EVENING!!

What I'd give for a good night's sleep!!!!