'You Little Weasel' - Not always a bad thing

by Jerome Hansen - Idaho Department of Fish and Game

"You little weasel," was a phrase I often heard from my boyhood friends, and perhaps I doled the phrase out myself now and then.

Looking back, I don't think it was a particularly complimentary name to be called. But let's take a closer look at our "little weasels" in Idaho.

We have two species of weasels in the gem state - the long-tailed weasel and its smaller cousin, the short-tailed weasel. The short-tailed weasel is also called an Ermine. One other species of weasel, the least weasel, is also found in North America, but the southern and western portion of its range does not reach Idaho.

Weasels are part of the same family Mustelidae, as are skunks, marten, fishers, mink, river otter, wolverine, and badgers. Most have long slender bodies, short legs, and anal scent glands. Perhaps the skunk is the most odiferous of the mustelidae family, but all of the cousins exhibit a familiar musty smell. Both species of weasels turn white in the winter and both are world champion mousers. As such, they can be very beneficial to the agricultural community in Idaho.

Weasels are classified as predatory mammals in Idaho and are not protected. Although no hunting or trapping season exists for them, a person is still required to possess hunting or trapping license in order to harvest them.

This past April, I received a call from a gentleman from a rural area outside of Moscow. It seemed something had "weaseled" into the crawl space of his new home. The homeowner had enjoyed occasional glimpses of the small, furry animal when it had inhabited a woodpile near his home. Understandably, he was not as excited about sharing his home with it.

Based on the smaller size, we both agreed it was likely a short-tailed weasel. Since it was the end of April, we discussed the possibility that young could have been born in his crawl space. The homeowner was not excited about entering his crawl space to investigate, only to come face to face with one or more feisty balls of fur.

I took a feeble stab at explaining the great benefit of having a weasel near the house, especially if he was concerned about the mouse population. The homeowner was open-minded, but we still made plans to get one of the department's live traps to him. Weasels are apparently pretty easy to lure into a live trap, with fresh meat serving as suitable bait. Someone in our office even suggested putting a live gerbil in a smaller live trap inside of the larger live trap, to lure in the weasel. I guess this might work if you could find a gerbil willing to work for hazard pay.

The next morning, the homeowner called our office. He no longer needed to borrow the live trap. Seems the afternoon before, he had fortified all vents to his crawl space with extra screening. As evening arrived, he removed one screen. Just before dusk, as he sat at his kitchen table, he noticed some movement in the grass below the window. A weasel scampered across the lawn from his crawl space to the woodpile. Then another and then another. The parade did not end until a family of 10 weasels had exited the crawl space and scampered to the wood pile. Well, the homeowner quickly re-fortified the vent with screen and everyone was happy, except the mice of course.

To follow-up, someone in the office suggested carefully hooking up lights in a crawl space to chase out weasels, skunks, or other nocturnal creatures that have taken sanctuary in the darkness. Now there is a bright idea that really works.

Jerome Hansen is the Regional Habitat Manager in the Clearwater Region. He helps manage all kinds of habitat, including weasel habitat.