A strange new pet

I have a new pet. Well not really a pet. You might even call it a pest. He comes around from time to time and visits me. And he is helpful, I have no mice in the house this winter. He's even gotten so used to me (I still am not totally used to him) that he walks right up to me.



The other day in my office/gun room at the computer ... you ever see something out of the corner of your eye? Well I looked over and there, standing next to my custom muzzleloader (.54 caliber Lancaster rifle flintlock) there was my new best buddy... he stood there and I began to quietly talk to him as I grabbed my camera. Well I took his picture a couple times then asked him to leave the room. Once I raised my voice he turned and fled the room.

The other day I had a friend over. We were in the living room talking and he suddenly was staring at the hallway next to where I was sitting, and my feet. He then told me ... you won't believe this, but I just saw a weasel next to your foot. So I told him that was my new pet. He smiled as if he was not sure whether or not to believe me. I finally explained the weasel comes in the house from time to time to check for mice. I said he's never bothered me so I don't bother him. My friend laughed and said ... you let him? Well I don't want to kill the little bugger. So if he leaves me alone, I leave him alone. So I told him, he goes back to the garage at night and in the spring.

I was telling my father about my new pet. And he laughed. He said it was common when he was a kid to see them in the house in Northern Minnesota where he grew up. (some of the shacks they lived in it would surprise me if more creatures came to visit my dad). My Dad just said, leave him alone and don't try to corner him, and he will never bother you. Isn't it wonderful living in the woods.

That's pretty awesome! Those little critters are very entertaining to watch. Ermine entertain me for hours in my deer stand. Wonder how many deer have slipped away while I was busy watching the weasel show.

I think you need to name him?!

wow! cool

Nice photo, cool friend :applause:

I was chuckling and my wife said "What?" I showed her the photo and explained how your new pet was keeping the mice at bay, she said why not just get a cat, I said you gotta take care of a cat!

That is smart, left him feed himself.

BuckDoeHunter said:

Nice photo, cool friend :applause:

I was chuckling and my wife said "What?" I showed her the photo and explained how your new pet was keeping the mice at bay, she said why not just get a cat, I said you gotta take care of a cat!

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Now that's funny! I have to remember that ... "You got to take care of a cat." Because of his rather large size, I figure its eating well, and might be a male. (I have never seen a mouse in my garage this winter either). But a name ... well give me some suggestions. I just call him Mr. Weasel when he comes around.

Very cool "little buddy" you got there.

That's cool.

Little buddy.....you could call him Gilligan :d'oh!:

He kinda looks like a GIlligan too

Least Weasel
[youtube]hy6oaDzy0-Q[/youtube]

GM54-120 said:

He kinda looks like a GIlligan too

Least Weasel
[youtube]hy6oaDzy0-Q[/youtube]

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that''s amazing. But I don't really like the idea of my fingers too close to them.

The guy who posted that video has many more of Ozzy. One video shows Ozzy run up his leg onto the kitchen counter. He grabs a piece of meat more than twice his size.

Interesting. I have seen mink in the wild a number of times but do not recall seeing a weasel.

That is pretty cool!! I never knew they had white fur also. I also got a chuckle out of that comment "You got to take care of a cat". That was funny!

edmehlig said:

That is pretty cool!! I never knew they had white fur also. I also got a chuckle out of that comment "You got to take care of a cat". That was funny!

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By the time the snow is all gone, he will be brown again, with a white belly. I see him in the garage/workshop from time to time throughout the summer. As in the house, he never bothers me and I don't bother him.

Three years ago, I had him in my wood pile. I had went out to gather wood and spotted him. He had caught and killed a chickadee. And when I came to get wood, he was not happy. He didn't want me near his kill. So I gathered no wood that day of that pile. And he had his meal. The old camera phone was not great quality, but it does convey what I saw.



I have no idea how long a weasel's life span is. Or even if its the same weasel year after year that visits me. But I have had weasels in the house for many years now. And I admit, it takes some getting used to. You just have to kind of act like they don't exist. Unless they get too close, then I tell them (very loud voice) ... get out of my house!! And they run away.

Some people (in the white stage they are worth about $10.00 I was told for their coat ... wonder why an ermine coat costs so much?) call them an ermine or a shoat. Scientific name: Mustela erminea. And some call them a least weasel or short tail weasel. Yet they have a long tail. But no matter what you call them they are a fascinating little creature to watch.

The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelidae native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip

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The least weasel (Mustela nivalis), or simply weasel in the UK, is the smallest member of the genus Mustela and of the family Mustelidae (as well as the smallest of the Carnivora), native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa. Eighteen subspecies are recognized.

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Fascinating creatures. They don't seem live very long.

I had to google them. I remember having a pair of ermine in an elk camp in Montanna years ago, they stuck around and after the bears went away for the winter, we started leaving scraps out. they pretty much ran the camp when we were away and took what they wanted.
They are mostly solitary, and usually live 1-3 years. because they are so long, they loose a lot of body heat, and must eat about 1/3 of their body weight daily to survive.

Also where I live we have other members of the same family ... the mustelid family ... called a Fisher. In fact I have signs posted all over my property, posted by the DNR warning about trapping regulations of the fishers in my woods. They are actually worth something. But you have to apply for permits and can only trap as many as the permits you hold. Now if one of them ever came into my house ... I would be worried. Armed and worried! I ran into one in the woods one day on a trail and while they are under 10 pounds in weight ... they are 10 pounds of pure nasty. He stood his ground on the trail, hissing and growling, letting me know ... back off! And I did. In fact, if your cat or dog goes missing when you let it outdoors, there is a good chance you gave a Fisher or coyote a meal. My friend said he had to intervene once when a Fisher came in his yard and went after his little Spaniel Dog.

Only once did I ever run across a Badger in the woods. It was standing next to its den, and had two little Badgers outside next to the opening in the hill side. Needless to say, I was on a 4 wheeler but turned around when I spotted mommy Badger and went the other way. No way was I going to perhaps invoke the wrath of that thing.

Friends tell me we have Pine Martin too. But I never saw a trace of them around my place. Maybe they are here. But as long as they stay hidden, I am fine with that.

Snowflake. That's what my kids said.

That is pretty neat Dave. He's a cute little bugger too. When my boy was younger and we lived on the edge of the woods, he was sitting on a stump eating a sandwich for lunch when a weasel came out from under a rock and came right up to him. My son shared his sandwich with it and it was unafraid of him. Funny thing that weasel seemed to know my boy wasn't going to harm him. We don't know whatever happened to it after that.