How many did you get this year? Were many long tailed?

Zero >> I just don't try to trap them because they are the best mouse cats I have. I like having them around for that reason.

Son got 25 or so. Usually a third are long tails. They say when you remove the males the overal pop goes up over time because the males wipe out the young of the year. Seems to be true. Yes they are great mousers. But I think they are so productive and so high in pop density here that they can not be overtrapped, not even close imho.

There's an open and unlimited season on them here. That said, I've only seen like 2 in my life in the wild. But trappers seem to find them. I'm hoping to target them some next year.
I'm not sure if they've turned brown yet.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume their summer pelt isn't worth going after.

Got 55 this year and 102 last year.
They are easy to tan and sell for great money.
Just sold 80 squirrels and 55 weasels today for $1600 wholesale.
Could have got quite a bit more selling individually,but wanted to move them quick.

joe,
Primarily regular weasels. But if you have any input on least weasels feel free to chime in.

Boco if you don't mind? What do you use to tan your weasels and squirrels. I catch a few weasels every year and wondered if there is another market for them.

Pickle with citric acid and tan with KT tan,a synthetic.

I would be selling to the fur market (or self tanning) since I know of no taxidermist interested in buying weasels.

63 this last season and from what has been said by others my area must be odd because 47 were LT 3 were least and th rest were ST

Every one was sold to a taxidermist who pays a premium if they happen to be piabald

That ratio is normal for this area

I trap a few weasels per year. What I read is the long tail weasel is not a common as the short tail. I read there is difference in body size. My guess the weasels we catch here are short tail weasels. They run any where from 6 -10 inches in length (body size). The long tail weasels run much bigger on the average. I don't think I have caught any weasels over 10' long. Was told the long tail weasel averages longer then a foot long. Never have caught any that size. I often wondered if it is easy to tell the difference. I still don't really don't know if I can?.?

WEASEL ID:

Least: Smallest of the weasels, little more than mouse size. Has a very short tail (less than one quarter the combined head and body length nose to base of tail. Tail has no black tip.
Length (head, body & tail): Male 6 ½-8 ½ inches Female 6 ¼-7 ½ inches

Short Tail: Best identified by its black tipped tail that is less than half the combined length of the head and body length, nose to base of tail.
Length (head, body & tail): Male 12 ½-13 ¾ inches Female 9-10 ½ inches

Long Tail: The largest weasel. Tail is also black tipped, but is more than half the length of the combination of the head and body, nose to base of tail.
Length (head, body & tail): Male 16 ½-17 ¾ inches Female 12 ½- 13 ¾ inches

I remember the first longtail weasel I caught a few years ago.
I could tell immediately it was not a Northern shorttail.Head was way different-much more triangular,and the length of the tail in comparison to the body was the dead give away.

I grew up and lived in the Twin cities where I learned to trap I would catch 15/20 weasels a year all LTs I never even seen a ST untill I moved north of the cities, back then I didn’t even know there were different kinds

Nowadays I work early mornings in the cities and see all kinds of wildlife a lot more then most people would expect including weasels and have never seen a ST down there not saying there not there just I have never seen one

There interesting animals there is one living under a housing development sign right next to the public library where I spend the midday, I spent all last summer watching her raise her litter right under the noses of thousands of city dwellers

Joe, so for those of us that don't take pictures does that mean it didn't happen. I don't take pictures of hardly any of my catches, and they are just as real as the ones you have pictures of........

Pictures of catches don't count unless taken at the set.

My take on the long tail weasels then would be similar to the size of a female mink? The ones Joe has pictured even look a little more bulky. I would say I have never caught a long tail weasel.

It has been a few years since I set any weasel traps, but in the part of the Lower Peninsula where I am, Roscommon Co.,we haveall 3 types. That being said, I have never caught a Least, nor have I even seen one. Our most common type is the Short-tail. It is just a w.a.g., but I would think Long-tails amount to less than 10% of our weasels. Now a couple county tiers south of us it is much more common to see Long-tails. The farther south in Michigan you go, the less common Short-tails are. I believe they disappear completely before you get as far south as the Ohio River.
I have caught Long-tails, plus mounted others for customers, that were every bit as large (long) as a female Mink.....they tend to not be as beefy as Mink though.

I don't think longtails,even the males compare to female mink.Female mink that I have handled,measure about 14" or so,not including the tail.Male long tails would be about 11",without tail and they are a little slimmer in girth,as well.The long tail may have a longer tail than the female mink.

One of the last Longtails I caught was mounted on a shaved down (girth, not length) McKenzie "Mink-9" form. It was sold out of my showroom soon after I finished it. Those forms are 13.5 inches nose to tail. This was in 2003 or 2004.