Stoats

[rangersarah2]

Haven't come across anything about stoats yet, so thought I would start one

Stood less than 10' from one once. It didn't know I was there, and I didn't dare breath. Luckily it left before I passed out.

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by rangersarah2

Haven't come across anything about stoats yet, so thought I would start one

Stood less than 10' from one once. It didn't know I was there, and I didn't dare breath. Luckily it left before I passed out.

Can we extend this to include weasels? The magic word is please.

[rangersarah2]

Definitely! Love weasels.

[Elevate29]

Once had the pleasure of handrearing an orphaned weasel before returning it to the wild... definitely my favourite British animal!

Elevate

[The Woodman]

A couple of years ago I was watching a weasel hunting in a dry stone wall at a NT property at the southern end of Windermere.

It hadn't seen me some twenty yards away so I squeeked it by sucking in the palm of my hand as I have had success with stoat calling that way.

I'd never done it with a weasel before but it came like a train and stopped with its front feet on my right wellington before it realised what the game was and shot back to the wall never to be seen again. I was trifle concerned that it was going to run up my leg.

It's a good technique for calling Stoats out of a wall, I used it a couple of weeks ago in Yorkshire to good effect.

Agreed, Stoats and weasels in fact all Mustelids are fascinating creatures.

[rangersarah2]

Elevate - you lucky thing.

Woodman - how do you make the noise?

[snake]

Hi rangersarah2,

Some people are very good at making a squealing noise by sucking on parts of their hand. I unfortunately have never been able to do this successfuly.
The easiest way I have found to make a sound that draws both Stoats and Foxes is to take a small piece of polystyrene, break it to give a sharp edge, damp it with your tounge and wipe it across a piece of glass. I pinched my wife compact make up mirror, works really well.
Give it a try.

[The Woodman]

Rangersarah2, I make the sucking squealing sound by pursing my lips tightly and sucking breath in through them as tightly as possible. If you then do this and lightly press your lips into a cupped hand with the thumb against the nose and the four fingers on the cheek, the sound will replicate a small animal or a rabbit in distress. As with all things,a bit of practice helps.

Snakes technique works well but only if you go prepared with glass and polystyrene. The best results I get are usually when a Stoat runs across the road in front of my van and I coast to a halt and switch the engine off. A couple of squeeks usually brings the Stoat running to see what's going on.

I have a German mouse call for foxes. It is so high pitched and quiet I cannot hear it but it has an amazing effect on Tawny Owls. Their hearing is beyond belief.

All good fun.

[rangersarah2]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Rangersarah2, I make the sucking squealing sound by pursing my lips tightly and sucking breath in through them as tightly as possible. If you then do this and lightly press your lips into a cupped hand with the thumb against the nose and the four fingers on the cheek, the sound will replicate a small animal or a rabbit in distress. As with all things,a bit of practice helps.

Snakes technique works well but only if you go prepared with glass and polystyrene. The best results I get are usually when a Stoat runs across the road in front of my van and I coast to a halt and switch the engine off. A couple of squeeks usually brings the Stoat running to see what's going on.

I have a German mouse call for foxes. It is so high pitched and quiet I cannot hear it but it has an amazing effect on Tawny Owls. Their hearing is beyond belief.

All good fun.

Will certainly practice that...............when no-one's looking

[rona]

I've seen 3 stoats this year and one very small weasel.
I spend a lot of time on a farm that started to concentrate on conservation several years ago, it's certainly paying off