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Post by bigbuckhunter88 on Mar 13, 2012 21:14:41 GMT -6
I can't get the PDF to open on the IDNR website and wasn't sure I would find anything there anyway. Is there a long tailed weasel population in Iowa and if so are they legal to trap? The reason I am asking is that my dad showed me a carcass of one today while I was helping him with chores and shooting the breeze. There was two dead ones underneath some boards next to our corral and when he moved them to set up for calving he had no idea what they were. Snow white with the distinct black tip on the tail.
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Post by tjk on Mar 13, 2012 21:19:44 GMT -6
Yes and Yes.
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Post by bigbuckhunter88 on Mar 13, 2012 21:30:30 GMT -6
Thank you. Never seen one in person before, and my dad who trapped in his younger years hadn't either.
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Post by iayogi17 on Mar 14, 2012 13:44:28 GMT -6
yes we have weasels in the state and you can trap them when in season. I bet I could get one or two in your county ;D
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Post by axeman on Mar 15, 2012 11:33:53 GMT -6
Several years ago a critter was skinning the back of the heads off some free range chickens I had (like a mink does too a muskrat) about a month later a German shorthair pup I had running around the place was playing with what I thought a baby mink, when I got it away from him it turned out too be a weasel changing for white to brown.
My dad told me when he was a kid in the 40's in Carroll Co. he'd trap em till he got a cigar box full then take to the Courthouse where the county would pay him 25 cent's a piece for them!
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Post by trappermike851 on Mar 15, 2012 16:04:50 GMT -6
Ya there are weasels but if you have allot of mink in your area then there probably won't be very many weasels.
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Post by dogdown on Mar 15, 2012 18:49:39 GMT -6
Back in the winter of 89, had one run across the road in front of me in a big city of population 600 where the Wapsipinicon runs thru it. About 5 blocks from the river on a snowy morning, I caught him by hand in a ditch. He didn't survive, shock I guess. Cool little critter, mounted and still residing on my sisters mantle.
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Post by iayogi17 on Mar 16, 2012 6:55:42 GMT -6
Ya there are weasels but if you have allot of mink in your area then there probably won't be very many weasels. I'm going to through the bs flag out on this one |
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Post by trappermike851 on Mar 16, 2012 8:06:12 GMT -6
Ya there are weasels but if you have allot of mink in your area then there probably won't be very many weasels. I'm going to through the bs flag out on this one I know it sounds a little weird, but mink and weasels compete for the same food and the mink being the larger animal will kill a weasel if they can get a hold of it. Weasels like to hunt around where timbered areas meet streams, wetlands ect. and so do mink. I have also saw weasel tracks on sand bars after a snow, so that makes it likely that they could come into contact with another. I am not saying that the mink killing the weasel is the only reason there might not be allot of weasels, but if you have a high population of mink they can deplete food sources pretty fast because of their long route that they take almost nightly. |
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Post by bd64 on Mar 16, 2012 9:36:39 GMT -6
Ya there are weasels but if you have allot of mink in your area then there probably won't be very many weasels. I'm going to through the bs flag out on this one What color is the BS flag? |
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Post by iayogi17 on Mar 16, 2012 12:34:37 GMT -6
I'm going to through the bs flag out on this one What color is the BS flag? mostly a brown ;D |
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Post by iayogi17 on Mar 16, 2012 13:41:46 GMT -6
I'm going to through the bs flag out on this one I know it sounds a little weird, but mink and weasels compete for the same food and the mink being the larger animal will kill a weasel if they can get a hold of it. Weasels like to hunt around where timbered areas meet streams, wetlands ect. and so do mink. I have also saw weasel tracks on sand bars after a snow, so that makes it likely that they could come into contact with another. I am not saying that the mink killing the weasel is the only reason there might not be allot of weasels, but if you have a high population of mink they can deplete food sources pretty fast because of their long route that they take almost nightly. it does sound wierd to me that mink and weasels compete at times and mink are larger, but I see no sign/ clues of mink out competing weasels even in areas with high pop of mink. I trap a part of the state with high mink numbers and I am one of the few in the state that run a weasel line too.     |
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Post by trappermike851 on Mar 16, 2012 16:27:08 GMT -6
I know there are weasels were there are mink, but I think that the mink are hard on the weasel population for different reasons. There being less weasels where there are allot of mink is kind of similar to there being less fox where there is a high coyote population, I know there are fox in my area but the coyotes are hard on the fox population. I don't see a whole lot of competition between mink and weasels either but I think the mink contribute to the low weasel population in my area.
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Post by billallenisu on Mar 17, 2012 21:05:02 GMT -6
My two cents would be that mink and weasels occupy different niches. Even if they have the same food sources (not sure on that), you could use an example of hawks and owls. Most owls hunt at night, hawks during the day. We have both in Ia because they use the same food sources possibly but operate within a different niche. Also, with predators, unless food supply is limited (doubt it here), habitat would be the limiting factor in population size, not competition. Neither would occupy any specific area in great densities, so there would be less competition based on that, as well. Just my thoughts...
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Post by iayogi17 on Mar 19, 2012 6:56:46 GMT -6
My two cents would be that mink and weasels occupy different niches. Even if they have the same food sources (not sure on that), you could use an example of hawks and owls. Most owls hunt at night, hawks during the day. We have both in Ia because they use the same food sources possibly but operate within a different niche. Also, with predators, unless food supply is limited (doubt it here), habitat would be the limiting factor in population size, not competition. Neither would occupy any specific area in great densities, so there would be less competition based on that, as well. Just my thoughts... couldn't have said it much better |
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