Almost acrobatic…

Excellent photo, Bushmaster. Wow! Don't often see them in that phase. Is that a long-tail?

Thanks to all you others who contributed with observations and/or pictures. Some real fine ones here.

BvrRetriever - Thanks. That's quite the contortionist!

Fun to catch
Longtail vs shortail



Only one I’ve ever caught with a brown tip tail

Easy to put up

Vacuum seal and they keep for a long time

Put a screen at the back for bait stealers. Beaver works good but so do the mice that happen into the box

New type body gripper for weasels......jk

SD one

We have short-tailed weasels and least weasels here, same species as in North America. For some reason they mostly stay in the steppe parts of our forest-steppe landscape, avoiding treed areas, so we rarely cross paths.


In my home region, we have two more species that are technically weasels (= the genus Mustela ) - the steppe polecat Mustela eversmannii and the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica. There are two more a few hundred miles to the south of here, in the Altai mountains - the mountain weasel Mustela altaica and the marbled polecat Mustela peregusna, but I don't have any first-hand experience with them.


The Siberian weasel has almost - or completely - disappeared from many areas in the northern parts of its range, probably because sable have been getting more numerous: sable have been documented to use every opportunity to track down and kill them. These weasels are still relatively common here but the current marten/sable tsunami may wipe them out. Their fur has no value anymore and most buyers only buy the tails, even though the fur is good and durable and the orange color is really striking. The Russian name kolonok transformed into kolinsky in the West. Siberian weasel tails is what the kolinsky sable-hair brushes are made of.




The steppe polecat is believed to depend on the red-cheeked ground squirrel - it's their primary prey, and they live in their burrows - but the ground squirrels are disappearing here, probably because of pesticides. It used to be the most numerous mustelid here, but some local trappers report seeing/catching less and less polecats in the past couple of decades. There are fears that it may eventually repeat the fate of your American black-footed ferret Mustela nigripes. I'm sampling the few I catch in marten sets so we can check their genome for signs of inbreeding, which happens when populations become small and fragmented.

Their fur has almost no value, but it's really pretty.

Interesting looking animals Tatiana.
First thing I noticed about the kolinsky is its chubby head,coarse looking guardhair and small feet
Also the polecat-small feet and overall resemblance to a mink(except for colour).
I suppose they dont do as well as marten/sable in the deep snow.

We had kalanok in fairly good numbers in Primorye. Because of their pelt value, we didn't target them. Accidental catches, however, were welcomed. Thanks for the information, Tatiana.

Jack

Yes Gulo....

I have caught all three types of weasels in my yard. I see their tracks often in the winter in the snow. I have never had them bother my chickens. I watched a short tail, that was watching my chicken and after a while he went down the hedge and was trying to catch a sparrow. I don't trust the long tail around the chickens. Europe has pole cats. I was fishing on a lake in Spain from shore and heard a rabbit squealing and saw it rolling down the hill with something else. I took off that way watching for a rock and saw a can full of mud. I grabbed it on the way by, and wacked a pole cat with it and the rabbit ran off. A friend in the Netherlands says ferrets are domesticated pole cats. He bred pole cats in cages and had some that were tame enough to handle.

While I was resetting the trap I told the dog to leave the weasel alone. When I got done I looked and the weasel was gone. I looked up and the dog was headed for the house with my weasel. Maybe it was his weasel, he knew we had lit before I did.

Only trapped a handful. I have no pictures of those. Inquisitive and aggressive little guys. I lip-skweaked this one up to sniff my boot but can't figure out how to load the video.

Love the one that hasn't completed turned white. Completely regret not tanning it.

Sharon You have a God given talent and a genuine skill at being able to capture the look of a live on the move animal Your art work is a blessing to this forum

[quote=Tatiana]We have short-tailed weasels and least weasels here, same species as in North America. For some reason they mostly stay in the steppe parts of our forest-steppe landscape, avoiding treed areas, so we rarely cross paths.


In my home region, we have two more species that are technically weasels (= the genus Mustela ) - the steppe polecat Mustela eversmannii and the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica. There are two more a few hundred miles to the south of here, in the Altai mountains - the mountain weasel Mustela altaica and the marbled polecat Mustela peregusna, but I don't have any first-hand experience with them.


The Siberian weasel has almost - or completely - disappeared from many areas in the northern parts of its range, probably because sable have been getting more numerous: sable have been documented to use every opportunity to track down and kill them. These weasels are still relatively common here but the current marten/sable tsunami may wipe them out. Their fur has no value anymore and most buyers only buy the tails, even though the fur is good and durable and the orange color is really striking. The Russian name kolonok transformed into kolinsky in the West. Siberian weasel tails is what the kolinsky sable-hair brushes are made of.




The steppe polecat is believed to depend on the red-cheeked ground squirrel - it's their primary prey, and they live in their burrows - but the ground squirrels are disappearing here, probably because of pesticides. It used to be the most numerous mustelid here, but some local trappers report seeing/catching less and less polecats in the past couple of decades. There are fears that it may eventually repeat the fate of your American black-footed ferret Mustela nigripes. I'm sampling the few I catch in marten sets so we can check their genome for signs of inbreeding, which happens when populations become small and fragmented.

Their fur has almost no value, but it's really pretty.


Those Siberian weasels certainly are a beautiful critter It must really stand out against a snow white background Some very good info on how the species affect other species within the area More proof that mother nature has a way of dealing with anima l populations and it is not always kind Thanks for your insight in to the thread concerning weasels