A weasel is living next to my rabbits' outdoor play pen.  I am even worried he could enter into my basement where my rabbits live. I can't see any traces of him trying to slip in, and my basement is pretty new, so I think,  the only way for him to get in would be right through the window. A bug screen would not hold a weasel back.

I put a grate in the window so I can still open it for my rabbits to get fresh air.

The weasel is a least weasel, so very tiny. He can fit through any opening bigger than one inch.

here he is peeking out of his den

here he is taking bait from a trap. The weasel does not die in this video. The trap is not set up correctly.

I'd like to catch him alive but the live traps cost around $ 100 and a trapper I know said they don't always work. She said to snare the weasel.

The good news is that the weasel has probably been eating many mice, which is why I haven't been getting many, and that his den is not tunneling into my basement like I had thought. It only goes down and to the side a short distance.

I really wish I could just relocate him. However, for my basement on the inside, I have traps loaded now just in case.

The weasels are a real draw-back to any garage or basement habitat for a rabbit.

This is what I think of this weasel right now.

Posted By Karla on 05/17/2010 10:08 AM
  disturb them with noises and interruptions, as they prefer to live in quiet places.
Also, they hate the smell of naftalin and paradichlorbenzen

  I hate to see the little guy get killed

thanks, Karla, these are good ideas. I was thinking of what else I can do. I don't want to kill him, either. Plus, even once I catch him, I still have to deal with his den to prevent another from moving in.

I was looking for him this morning and he wasn't there, I wonder if I bothered him too much? I had splashed water into his den last night.

Now is not the time for anyone in your town to mess with you Well, unless, they have no pets, but only mice in the yard because then you will be a popular lady once you start looking for relocation place

Any woods nearby? Not too nearby perhaps, if weasels have a big hunting territory...do you know if they do?

yes, there are woods nearby. The thing is in the winter I have seen weasels running out of the woods and crossing the main road here to head to where the houses are. I tried to find info on the weaselss home range but it isn't conclusively known how far they travel. Some suggest their range to be very large. It seems weasels maintain several dens with food caches in them. i wonder if he is in another den right now because I haven't seen him since Saturday.

edit: I looked up the wrong weasel: mine here is a least weasel and their home range comprises no more than 2 acres in size.

It says in wikipedia that least weasels are even more ferocious than other larger weasels...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_Weasel

I was reading that weasels are belligerent by nature and I found this video of a weasel fight on youtube.

If you get rid of my weasel for me, I will bond all your bunnies for you, Lintini.

I saw him racing under my deck yesterday when we were cutting grass, it didn't bother him at all.

I put some meat inside my smallest crate and left it in front of his den last night. I wanted to see if he fit through the 1" by 1" openings in the crate's door.

this is the type of crate

He could not fit through the openings in the door, instead he chewed up the plastic, but didn't get the meat inside.

So I took down my bunny yard.

Even though my dog saved my rabbits from the weasel, I wouldn't want my rabbits in that pen again. I even think this weasel would try to take a rabbit from me in my presence.

I am thinking of buying a 1" by 1/2" rabbit wire and make something weasel-proof at some point.

Ugh! Thanks Andi -- I would have to make that wire 1/2" by 1/2" then. I read that the least weasel will start killing at as young as 40 days of age when I suppose they are still smaller than mine here.

Karla, my dogs are after him bad but he couldn't care less. He is fast as lightning. There is much food to eat for weasels here: squirrels, voles and mice to his heart's content. This weasel is just one of many.

Maybe the solution is for my quartet to be indoors and on the patio only with my two dogs.

However, I did read that weasels don't actually dig, they move into burrows that other animals they killed dug. This is good to know.

Andi, what else can you tell me about weasels?

Posted By usagi on 05/18/2010 01:44 PM
Petzy, can you try filling in the hole when he is gone? If he takes over the houses of his victims, maybe he won't dig out. Perhaps he would move on?

What if its a she? Yikes.

I actually think it's quite frightening looking - like a mammalian eel. Even more frightening with loved furry ones around.

Yes, I want to fill the den.

Now that you mentioned that it might be a female, I really cannot wait for the county's live-traps.

I want to put this picture at the entrance of the weasel's den.