WEASELS, STOATS, Etc.

Forest and Bird, Issue 13, 1 September 1927, Page 5

WEASELS, STOATS, Etc.

Mr. W. W. Smith, who is a naturalist of life long experience, now resident in New Plymouth, has some interesting remarks to make with reference to recent reports of weasels killing lambs and sheep in the Taranaki and Hawkes Bay districts. His remarks give food for the thought that perhaps a larger number of lambs fall victims to the bite of these animals than is generally credited. The two needle-like punctures made in the vicinity of the jugular vein are so small that they cannot be definitely detected unless the skin of the neck is removed right up to the ears and the underside carefully examined. A. little close examination of dead lambs by farmers might be of very considerable interest. Weasels are more prone to attack lambs in very cold weather, probably owing to the then greater difficulty in obtaining food from their usual sources. Mr. Smith states — Having recently read several articles published in the newspapers announcing the finding of dead sheep and lambs, each with a deep wound behind the ear, I have been surprised at the doubt expressed by the writers of the articles as to the cause ot the wounds and the death of the animals. The description given of the position and nature of the wounds proves unmistakably that it is the work of weasels. These fierce and rapacious little mammals have been known for centuries to kill sheep and lambs. Occasionally several weasels act in concert in attacking their larger . prey. Three years ago seven attacked a man at Awapuni, near Palmerston North. Several old English natural history works also contain accounts of weasels attacking and injuring ■children. The weasel hunts chiefly by scent, the stoat by sight.

The bite of the weasel is alike painful and poisonous. It is of" rare occurrence that any animal bitten by a weasel recovers from, the wound. Of the six European species belonging to the order,, namely, the ferret, marten, polecat, sable, stoat, and weasel, the last, though the smallest, is the most active, aggressive, and. destructive. The marten, polecat, and sable emit an extremely offensive odour when molested or assailed by natural enemies, which acts as a protective warning. When a schoolboy living on a wealth}' gentleman’s estate in the Homeland, I devoted a Saturday occasionally, and days during holidays, to trapping stoats and weasels, for which I received threepence each from the squire. I was occasionally sent with a ferret to the warren net and bring home a pair of good rabbits for the squire’s table. Rabbits were a luxury in those days, and probably still are in, England. During several visits to the warren, and before searching the burrows, the ferret would become highly excited and erect its fur in a menacing manner. The ferret’s excitement was caused by a polecat’s “aroma” in a near burrow. The style of trap which I then used is a good one for catching stoats and weasels. Procure a three or four-inch drainpipe and lay it on the ground near the haunts of these pests. Put some meat or fowl —the head of a fowl is a good bait—in the centre of the pipe. Fasten the latter down with a bent green stick, and place a light rat-trap at each end of it. It is always better to cover the lightly-set traps with line earth, and set them towards evening. Stoats are not so easily caught in traps as are weasels.