Ermine... Best way to catch? Or kill!!!

[RoosterRules]

The large snap traps (rat traps) are your best bet in my experience. But place it inside a small narrow structure, like a hamster cage or wooden box so the ermine cannot access the bait sideways, and suspend your bait by a wire so the ermine will have to stand on the trigger to get the bait. All weasel types cannot resist raw liver, brain, entrails and small meaty bones. Thin slices of raw marrow bones tied above the trap are my go-to bait and it has not failed me. The ermine has to balance on the rat trap to grab the bone ring but can't remove it from the wire, and snap! I feed mine for a couple of days prior in the box without rat trap set, so they trust it. Then I set it and get it the same night. I like the ermines because they eat a ton of mice but once I have rabbit kits and little chicks in the spring, the ermine has to go.

 

[Howard E]

If a weasel box is not in the cards, a quick and dirty (and less safe) method is to use rat trap as a tree set.

Key features are a larger "bait" item like a dead bird's head, leg, thigh, wing, etc. fastened above the trap for the scent attractor, plus a rat trap with small metal trigger (vs wide paddle) with bloody bait fixed to that. If you have a dead bird, you might harvest the heart (a tough, bloody piece of meat) and wire or stitch a piece of that to the metal trigger.

You could place this on one of the upright posts of your run or even to the side of the house itself. About a foot above the deck so he can reach it while standing on the ground, placing his head and neck in a perfect position for the kill bar to slam down on him. If you fear the birds or other from getting to it, you might have to use some type of box or tube over it.

A more expensive, but perhaps safer version of this would be a Victor gopher trap.....fix the bait to the trigger and mount it on the upright post or tree, opening facing down.

http://www.victorpest.com/victor-the-blackbox-gopher-trap-0625

 

[matt swenson]

look up weasel trapping on you-tube. there are tons of instructional vids on making and trapping them. l

 

[cmom]

look up weasel trapping on you-tube. there are tons of instructional vids on making and trapping them. l