I am planning on making some weasel boxes and buying rat traps for it, how easy are they to trap? Do I just set anywhere and expect one? Are they basically like mice? What bait do I use? Is lure necessary? I never caught one so just tell me everything you know. And are they fun to trap?

Youtube has many videos on this. A picture is worth a thousand words. They are fun to catch! Good luck

I caught mine with beaver meat.

That's what i was using

Beaver meat for bait here. Sometimes a weasel lure too. I may not be correct here, but I think the PGC considers a rat trap as a bodygripper. That makes it illegal outside of a watercourse. Good question for your local warden. I use rat traps in the swamps and 1.5s everywhere else. Just playing it safe

-No. Set along rock walls, rock piles, briars, thick areas & etc. where mice & rabbits are found.
-Red meat, Fresh bait. Lure is a key to Weasel boxes. Lure odor last much longer than bait odor in my experiences.
- Fun to trap, you bet. Sharp teeth, bold little critters.
Someone once wrote, if a Weasel was as large as a Cougar, it wouldn't be safe for man to be in the woods.

Put the weasel box next to cattails and water.

Ok thanks excited for this season!

Weasels are fun to trap, we use weasel boxes with a rat trap but we also occasionally catch them on our marten poles. I haven't found weasels here to be all that picky as far as bait goes but we use grouse or ptarmigan minus the breast meat and fish. We've always used Lenons weasel lure and I highly recommend using lure with your bait. We put a little lure in the box with the bait and I put a little on a stick outside the box as a call lure. Weasels are easy to skin but make sure you have a weasel board to stretch it on. Like others have mention put your sets in places that hold mice. Good luck

Tips on making the boxes?

Without a hole saw

I made the fence slat type boxes, they work well and easy-peasy. You can find them at Lowes and there is much info on them on the internet.



Get the rat traps with the large yellow pans, I chose to paint mine. The penny under the spring is suppose to add a little power to the trap(questionable, but fun).



They are fairly easy to trap, if there is sign. Their main prey will be mice, check for sign around reeds, brushy areas, stone walls, brush piles, culverts, etc.




I use chicken livers as bait, fresh and bloody bait is better. I add benzoate and salt to the chicken livers, keeps it fresh and helps prevents freezing(questionable step, but builds confidence at the least). Any mice that beat the weasel to the box get added to the bait. As for lure I use petroleum jelly with anise oil mixed in. Also Lenon's weasel lure works well.




NOTE: tuna can, makes clean up much easier.

Also build your boxes early. Place a hand full of bird seed, some dry grass in the boxes and place in a mousy area in the yard, barn or chicken coop. The mice that move in will leave plenty of scent behind... mouse urine and turds are great lures!

And yes, they are fun to trap!

Good luck to you, sir

How do you drill hole? I always break a hole saw when I use them

I use a hole saw 1 3/4 I think, it goes in a drill. Any hardware store has them but I'm sure if you ask around someone has one in their tool box. I scrounge plywood scraps from construction sights, can't beat free. I've also seen folks use plastic milk jugs for weasels. YouTube should have plenty of videos to give you ideas and how-to's.

My dad how's hole saws but I always break the bit part for some reason

You can replace the bit with a new drill bit on most hole saws easily. I use #1 longsprings they work like a bodygrip on weasels and have the added advantage of holding a marten if he gets in your trap. And yes a marten will occasionally squeeze through a 1 3/4 hole.

if your breaking the drill bit your trying to push it thru. let the drill do the work. and don't rock it side to side! let the drill do its thing! all me weasels i catch in pa are on logs spanning the crick. blind sets! them old #1 and 1 1/2 jump traps where perfect for this!

If you have not already, look in the land trapping archives.

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1667609/weasel-need-weasel-box-plans#Post1667609

The weasel threads start on page 11 and cover about everything.

I find that they are easy to catch, if you know that they are around. A couple small chunks of beaver, in a tuna can for bait behind a rat snap trap works very well for bait. Gusto or similar skunky lure seems to spike their interest.