weasel

[stew pidasso]

I had one of these long tailed weasels trying toget in my house yesterday. Never saw one before. Looked like he was trying toget away from a squirrel. The one here was all brown except for his head an tail which was black. This photo was the closest match.

[UrbanTrapper]

I had never seen one in Western WA but in June I saw one in Auburn and my buddy caught one in a Mountain Beaver set in Federal Way a few days later.  This might be a high population year for Weasels in western WA.  Are other people seeing more weasels than usual?  And yeah, I know there are a lot of weasels in Olympia EVERY year.

[Halo]

Seems to be way more weasels around now, I've seen 2 in the last week and I don't know how many so far this year, probably ten times as many as normal.

[Humptulips]

HA! I can't believe your weasel was trying to get away from a squirrel. Pound for pound they are about the toughest predator out there and would take on anything up to and including rabbits. I doubt a squirrel would slow one down.
I have seen three varieties of weasels in W WA but you are likely to only see long tailed and short tailed. Size is the best way to tell the difference. Long tails are as big as a small mink. Short tails are maybe half the size of a long tail.
Both pretty common but I see the Short tails most often. The short tails have a while belly and the long tails have a lemon colored belly on the west side.
Pretty cool if you see a mother with her flock. They follow all in a line like skunks do but at high speed.

[Humptulips]

Made me think of a funny story.
Years ago when I was first trapping. I think I was probably twelve. I had some old weak 1 1/2 jumps and I would set them for civets when they were raiding my cat sets. Now at the time I wasn't exactly piling up the fur so I put up every thing that I caught regardless of value. That year I had caught 5 brown weasels in those 1 1/2s and had put them up just like they were a prized mink. Of course the furbuyer (Fred Hjort in Raymond) wouldn't buy them. There was no market and still is no market for brown weasels.
So I put all five in a business envelope and shipped them off to F C Taylor Fur company. You old timers will remember the name.
About a week later I received a check for $1.25 and a note to please not send them anymore weasels.

[coachcw]

Lots of rats and rabbit  this year in my neck of the woods

[2labs]

Before I had the privlage of donating my house and land to my ex. I would see them often in my wooded area. Didn't know if they were fishers or weasels. Belfair area.

[Trapper John]

A few years back when l was in business I had a customer tell me that she had a noise and a strong odor in the wall under her bathtub.  When I open up the wall it was a female weasel just like yours and she had a litter.  I watched her grab her young and get them away from me.  Boy was she quick.  Maybe this is what you have going on, she has her litter somewhere in your house.

The squirrel wouldn't scare her off, she take him on and finish him off real quick.  Keep an eye out for her and if she is still hanging around your house I would put money on that she has a litter in there.

I'm not sure if there are more this year but it seems like I always see more in spring and early summer.
JC

[stew pidasso]

I think it might have been a young one. About 1' long head to tail. All brown even on the belly and jaw. Do they turn white or lemon at a certin age. My wife had just cleaned the windows on our glass slider and right at my feet he bonked his head three times trying toget in. That squirrel watched the whole thing from the corner of the yard. Looked like a real tiny Weiner dog.

[Humptulips]

All brown indicates a small mink.

Weasels are great to have around unless you have chickens or rabbits. They really clean out the mice.

[Bigshooter]

I was at my dad's a couple of summers ago talking with him on the front porch.  When I noticed a weasel coming up his drive way.  It cut across the front lawn like it was following a scent trail.  It went right by us, couldn't have been more than a few yards away and went in to his pump house.  Then we heard a bunch of noise and a few seconds later out came the weasel dragging a big pack rat.  He drug him back down the drive way and into the woods.

[Cultusman]

  25 cents must have been top dollar for a weasel back in the day.
 Here is proof from back in 1974 (bottom left)

Made me think of a funny story.
Years ago when I was first trapping. I think I was probably twelve. I had some old weak 1 1/2 jumps and I would set them for civets when they were raiding my cat sets. Now at the time I wasn't exactly piling up the fur so I put up every thing that I caught regardless of value. That year I had caught 5 brown weasels in those 1 1/2s and had put them up just like they were a prized mink. Of course the furbuyer (Fred Hjort in Raymond) wouldn't buy them. There was no market and still is no market for brown weasels.
So I put all five in a business envelope and shipped them off to F C Taylor Fur company. You old timers will remember the name.
About a week later I received a check for $1.25 and a note to please not send them anymore weasels.

[grundy53]

HA! I can't believe your weasel was trying to get away from a squirrel. Pound for pound they are about the toughest predator out there and would take on anything up to and including rabbits. I doubt a squirrel would slow one down.
I have seen three varieties of weasels in W WA but you are likely to only see long tailed and short tailed. Size is the best way to tell the difference. Long tails are as big as a small mink. Short tails are maybe half the size of a long tail.
Both pretty common but I see the Short tails most often. The short tails have a while belly and the long tails have a lemon colored belly on the west side.
Pretty cool if you see a mother with her flock. They follow all in a line like skunks do but at high speed.

Just curious. What's the third variety?

[Blsum]

Heard a rabbit distress call ,from about 30 feet away, while searching for morels this spring. Went to check it out and found this weasel trying to get some breakfast.

[UrbanTrapper]

1.  The Least Weasel is the third type of weasel:  https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=least+weasel&view=detailv2&&&id=C233F1758FF4E26F07AFFB5E4B77D875E4318250&selectedIndex=28&ccid=2MsFeS%2bt&simid=608000072192035577&thid=JN.h81wgf6k9yl3UhVIMtzLaw&ajaxhist=0

2.  I saw TWO more weasels dead on the road today.  One in Auburn and one on the Lake Sammamish Parkway.