Weasel taking a sparrow

[LayLad]

Last weekend we witnessed a bizarre spectacle in the back garden.

We live on the edge of our village and feed the birds in our garden which borders onto open land. We have a resident colony of around 50 house sparrows.

Out of the blue, our 9-year old claimed he'd seen a weasel run across the lawn. He loves his wildlife, but we did take his claim with a pinch of salt. A few minutes later, we noticed the sparrow flock gathering in one of the trees, making quite a racket and all facing the same way, in towards the fence. They looked a bit like spectators at a football match!

We couldn't see what they were looking at, but then all of a sudden the tiny weasel shot out across the lawn carrying a sparrow in its jaws, which seemed almost as big as the weasel itself.

I've since read that apparently members of the weasel family can do "crazy dances" to seduce prey - maybe that's what was grabbing the attention of all the sparrows.

[hammock monkey]

Hi,
great stuff, weasles & stoats are great fun to watch!
The sparrow behaviour is interesting, I've seen a small flock (approx 8) of tits do something sort of similar. I've been sat on the edge of a pond and they've been working their way around towards me, then stayed in the trees above me (only approx 15ft up) chattering away, sussing me out most likely. They soon got board and carried on their way. I hadnt really seen that sort of thing before - I had most likely just not been paying attention.

Its a shame you didnt get to see if the weasle was dancing, I've seen stoats do it many times - never a weasle though.

cheers

[pammosley]

I`d love to see a weasel. I`ve seen videos of them & they look totally manic It sounds like your son has a great eye for wildlife watching

[The Woodman]

A nice bit of observation LayLad and a sight that'll hopefully stay in your son's memory for a long time. Keep your eyes open because there's every chance that the weasel will be back.