Weasel, mink, marten?

bluetick · #1 03/27/07, 07:12 PM

Shortly after letting my ducks, chickens, and geese out this morning, the ducks started in with their "danger!" chant. I looked into the nearby wooded area expecting to see my neighbor's large cat. After a couple of minutes I saw a weasel-like animal hustling away. It had a long body and short legs.

The animal was at a distance and my eyes aren't that great, but it appeared to be evenly dark colored and about 18" long, including the tail. The tail appeared to have fur, but was not bushy. I saw a weasel here several years ago, but it seemed a lot smaller than this animal. Fishers are at least south of here, as I have heard of a couple being seen, including a rabid one that attacked a woman in her garage. However, I believe fishers are quite large.

The wooded area still had snow on the ground, and a seasonal stream is now visible in spots where the snow has melted. Beyond the red and white pines, tamaracks, sumac, some maples and a few ancient apple trees are open fields. I recently saw wild turkeys and deer in this same area. I am just south of the Adirondacks.

Sorry to make this so long, but more detail might better help with identifying this potential predator of my birds. There is a 5' high welded wire fence with 2"x4" spaces, but I don't think it would keep this animal out. Any ideas as to what it is?

jen74145 · #2 03/27/07, 08:14 PM

Mink are quite small, tend to stick close to water. My vote is for marten, from the size description...

**GREENCOUNTYPETE** · #3 03/28/07, 11:07 AM

wood chuck/ground hog/whistle pig

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodchuck

we have lots of them here usualy pople complain more about them eatng the soy beans than killing anything

but my wifes aunt had one burrow up throught the asphalt floor in the garage then make a real mess out of the door to get out. so when the get close to the house i get rid of them.

i looked at marten but the american martin is mostly found in the west fisher is a close cusin found in new england

maybe the pictures from these sights will help.

bluetick · #4 03/28/07, 01:19 PM

It was probably a small woodchuck. Funny, but I hadn't even considered them!

In fact, I did see one a few years ago near where yesterday's critter was.

Thanks for the help! Prior to bringing my question here, I looked through a book of my deceased father's called "Fur Farming", published in 1936. It had a number of black and white pictures, but the descriptions of the animals, including size, could have been more detailed!

Trapper · #5 03/29/07, 11:21 AM

There is a good chance that the animal you were discrbing was a male mink. Mink are not limited to waterways as most people believe but venture long ways from water to do some hunting. Males are about twice the size of females and easily reach the size you estimated. I have caught many mink in upland sets as well as at the waters edge. (Funny how scard they become from tick bites.

) It is also possible that you sighted a martin as they do inhabit your area but for most part stay away from mankind. Both these critters are in the weasel family and would pose a threat to your chickens. In my area I have mink and weasels and what I did was run 1 inch chicken fence about three inches into the ground an up the base of my fence.
This has provented any problems for me so far. Hope this is of help. Trapper

bluetick · #6 03/29/07, 03:06 PM

Thanks, Trapper! Whatever it was, I'll keep my eyes open in case it comes back. My birds are a great alert system when they see something they don't like.

My father did a lot of trapping in the 20's and 30's. I have many old pictures of him standing proudly next to rows of what appear to be stretched fox hides.