Weasel

So I set out some weasel boxes and caught my 1st and 2nd last night. One was all white and the other looked like it was still changing color. Is it normal for them to not be all the way white this time of year in semi northern MN?

I guess it varies a bit.
Most all are white here now,but I picked up a greyback the other day.

Ermine are awesome! Congrats!

I hope ours are not all white yet. I want to get one brown, one white, and 9ne in between to tan for wall hanging. Been trying for three years and finally found some. Caught my brown one already and will be back to set again Friday. Hope I can still get a mixed color one and not wait another year. Lol. First weasel I even even seen.

Do there coats change from brown to white in winter?

In the northern part of their range, yes. Places with a more moderate climate, their winter pelage is often brown, like summer.

They definitely change color here....

Ok I figured they would be mostly white by now. Kind of like the look of the in between.

The brown weasel in Shanemoss's photo may be a least. Some more photos and a length measurement might help ID.

Top one all white-caught 5th of nov
Second one a greyback caught 22 of nov same area.

Good Job

using the chain as size reference ,I don't think it is a least, they are usually the thickness of your fingers

A few never do change all the way, and I have seen a few over the years that change little or not at all, the taxi man I sell mine to prefers and pays more for the pinto ones

I only have a sample size of three but all were white here by 11/20

Guess it'll be another year to round out my trifecta then.

Short-tailed weasels (ermine) and Long-tailed weasels turn white... does the Least Weasel - keep its color like a mink?

Just like the other two North American species, the least weasel does indeed turn white in winter in the northern part of it's range.

Weasel are such cool animals. I liked trapping them more than anything else since I was a little kid.

Although I have never caught a least weasel-they are supposed to be easy to identify,not only from overall small size but apparently they also dont have a black tail tip.

I have never caught a least weasel either. But, I was told the same thing by Skulls Unlimited, a least weasel doesn't have a black tip on it's tail. That's how you can tell them from a short tail.

Boco's correct. On the least, very short tail and no black tip. Usually very small. Overall size is not something you want to rely on for distinguishing the three weasel species. They vary greatly in size over their ranges. In interior Alaska, the short-tails are almost as big as long-tails down here in Idaho. Our short-tails in Idaho are very small.

Interesting thread- found this on Ancestory.com

The chart above is not quite accurate-Fisher is Martes,not Gulo.Gulo is wolverine.

Boco- I'd take your word over the internet

You didn't read it close enough Rob. The chart is correct. The subfamily is Guloninae for Pekania (fisher) which used to be Martes pennanti.

Ok Boco- Since Gulo took his name from a Wolverine... I'm a fair-weather fan and standing with him

Well, I have caught quite a few least weasels. The first specimens I positively identified were placed in a museum in 1964 where they remain today. More recently I have caught and placed least weasel skins for full body mounts, entire bodies for parasite examinations and full skeletons for mounts. Least weasels are indeed smaller than shorttails and much smaller than long tails BUT a large male least and small female shorttail are about the same size in Northern Wisconsin and South Dakota where I have trapped weasel for nearly 70 years, and thus size is not always determinate. The short tail without a black tip that characterizes a least does separate them. In addition, there are other differences such as body form and color that hold fairly true. The weasel in shanemoss's photo is colored much more like a least than a shorttail and in that photo the head appears more similar in shape to that of a least. He sent me several additional photos in which it appears that the weasel is a short tail based on tail length. For a good clear photo of a least in summer pelage, I will ask Law Dog to add one that he has a photo of.

Love those ermines

OK got it.I I didnt know fisher were no longer Martes Pennanti.

Most of my weasels are incidentals in marten boxes,probably more than 90% are male Northern Shorttails.The very few females I get are very small in comparison to males.
I forget the term used for the difference in size between sexes,Maybe sexual dimorphism?

Gulo that female had her litter close by and was probably around her till early September.
female long-tails can be the same size as male ermine, but their skulls are different

think of all the weasels that Jackpine Savage would catch in a year.RIP
and that other guy that asked for his name to be removed because of Minn politics
many a kid got into weasel trapping with his threads

WEASEL ID: Then key factor in identification of each is the tail length in relation to the body length.

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

Least weasel hard to catch at least because so many conibear traps these days that they can slip by. Expect back in the day 0/knot traps would catch more, and number 1's too, as easier for a least to trigger. Might be harder to catch cause naturally scarcer too but can not say for sure.

Caught 2. One in mouse trap set for mice and baited with peanut butter in summer and the other in a rat trap purpose set for one I saw in a shed that had some moose bones in winter. No black tail tips either one and small. Not hard to tell if you watch for them. The old people here knew about them and called them "stoats" which is the old English name for weasels. Short tails, which we have here also, we always called weasels. We have no long tails.

Had one 5' away from me one time on a skidoo. It tried to cross path same time as I was going along. It came up to me and bounced around a bit and finally went back to the bush where it came from. Small and no black tail tip on an otherwise all white animal.

First week of November Northern Maine.

Thanks for all the good info so far. Anyone have any tips for skinning them? So small seems like it will be tedious. what kind of knife do you like and stuff like that. Had to set a couple more boxes out today.

A least the cats dragged in~

A #10 scaple works good.

I like using a pointed scapel that's nice and sharp. Makes opening them easy. I try to make sure they're clean and blood free before I skin. I'll wash the ermine first, if necessary, dry it off and then skin.

Easy to skin and put up.
I just pin one back foot to the table with a push pin,pull the other foot,then make the opening cut.Then just proceed with the knee out skinning method by hand on the tabletop.

hard to tell with young of the year in the summer time as the Ermine are still growing.
There is something in their skull formation that separated them apart

My kids and I enjoy catching them! Haven't targeted them in a few years but might toss some boxes out soon. My son is 2 1/2 now, about the age my daughter's enjoyed checking boxes! Seams to be more tracks this year than the last few.


My daughter's 7 years ago


Least weasel

Deerfly, was the least weasel caught in a rat trap in the box? I have tracks here at the house and don't have one in my tanned fur collection so I am going to try and catch it. Not sure which trap would be best.

Pretty typical male and female short tails from my area of Alaska. I catch very few females likely due to small size

I get most ermine incidental in 120 marten sets. I've tried successfully using Black Box Gopher traps. I've added a wood bait box and galvanised nails for enhanced lethal performance along with tweaking the trigger system a bit. I was looking for a rust free weasel-specific setup and was not satisfied with rat traps. Black Box traps are pretty spendy. I only use them where there is low likelihood of mink or marten getting involved. I don't know how well they would work for least but very well could if adjusted for hair trigger and enhanced 'pan' coverage.

8117 Steve R,
It was caught in a Duke 110, in a mink box. I couldn't believe it fired the trap as they have one of the poorest firing triggers of all bodygrips.

my dad has one up in the yoop that comes around every winter that is so friendly he feeds it by hand.

Just love these photos of them all. So, I simply have to add mine too .

Sharon,
Always love when you share your talents- outstanding!

Thanks , Eagleye, someday I'd love a nice ermine skinned to perfection to add to my collection. A large one in the white phase. I'll find one eventually !

Beautiful drawing as always!

Caught another in one of the two I set out yesterday. Do you guys that Target them shuffle your traps after you catch one or will there territory overlap.

Depends on how many are around Jag. There can definitely be more than 1 in a given area no doubt. We had a 'pack' of least weasel come through 1 summer. There were a lot of voles. A group of about 7 least weasel came in and cleaned them up. Saw one weasel the next day and then they were gone. Maybe a litter all moving together I don't know. Voles didn't have a chance, weasels popping in and out of every little hole.

Weasels are also deadly cannibalistic too.
A weasel carcass is great weasel bait.

MnJag,
I have made multiple catches in the same spot, I recall one location had a catch 3 days on a row.

Thanks for all the great info.

sharon, as always, your work is amazing! dad feeds a lot of birds & squirrels and incidentally attracts mice, he loves having the ermine around. it will cross a tomahawk handle from the windowsill to his kitchen table to steal scraps! so funny to watch

need red backed voles if anyone gets some big $$$ for of them need 10
PM if you can help
thanks

This Ermin found one of my chickens nest under the house and was using his nose to roll the eggs away through the snow, He rolled them up over the hill and out of sight.

yukonjeff- industrious little fellow and capturing with a pic is so cool- do they cache food like a canine?

Like the Old-timer Improved Muskrat knife Drasselt. Been my go to knife since 1983. Even a water stone will take them down over time and have been thru a few. Made In China now = not happy and have had a quality issue w one blade on most recent one.

I am even cheaper than that. I use a exacto knife. Just pick up extra blades they last a long time.

The tools I use for weasel skinning:




Splitting tails is made easy with the aid of a tail splitting guide and a small fur pelting knife or scalpel. Just insert the splitting guide into the tail as far “as it will easily go”. This will be only an inch or so. Then with a “little” pressure on the guide, while lifting it up slightly, make short strokes with the knife. As the hide splits, the guide will penetrate the tail a little further with each short stroke. A more suitable splitting guide for weasel and squirrel tails can be made from an old umbrella rib. The ribs (or umbrella stays) have a groove to place tip of knife in.

A retired mink rancher gave me that knife the ground down points are the best I've used for opening cuts on any small furbearer. BC's blade looks skookum too.

I did however quit trying to split ermine tails. They come back from Moyles intact, no slipping, and most important black tips intact.

bctomcat- I initially skin my tails down the tail shaft base farther- impressive that you pull that distance when stripping without popping the tail off

Short tails strip easily with just the fingers when fresh. If the tail gets dried-out from hanging around in the cold for more than a few days then it's a lot tougher or impossible to not break it unless you rehydrate it but even then not a sure bet.

Never had trouble with stripping or splitting weasel tails.
Red squirrel are tricky.

I do the same procedure for splitting squirrel tails with no problem.

Splitting them is not the problem,the tail bone tend to rip off the body when stripping.(not the fur-the bone).
I use a needle knife to split the tail with the bone still in then strip the bone out from the tip to base.I need perfect tails on them for my squirrel market.

I didnt think they normally cache food but he cleaned out the whole nest of eggs, so he must of been saving them for later.


I dont split the tails on Ermin they tan just fine.

Caught one today! Always an exciting sight, especially when the kids are with.

Squirrel with high density numbers are always fighting and the tails have scars...a QUICK check with you fingers will show bumps in the tail and these will not finger nail extract easily