As winter sets in and the ponds and sloughs freeze up it gets harder to trap certain species of furbearers. But one critter that winter makes trapping easier is ermine, or more commonly referred to as a weasel.
These little buggers are simple to catch and can provide a lot of fun during the winter. Weasels are brown in the summer, but as winter comes along they turn white with a black tip on their tail, allowing them to blend into the snowy surroundings.
If you’re wondering how to trap weasels , it helps to know there are three different types, ranging from smallest to largest: the least weasel, the shorttail, and lastly the longtail weasel.
Where to Set Weasel Traps
A lot of people are surprised to learn that weasels even live in their area, but they are really quite simple to find. Although if you’ve spent any time in a deer stand, you may have seen one darting around and looking in holes and crevices for its next meal. If you think a location would be good for pheasants to hole up in, it’s probably also good for weasel trapping. Cattail sloughs, tall slough grass, red willow thickets, drainage ditches, and brush piles are all great areas to start scouting for setting weasel traps.
Best Conditions for Scouting Weasels
When scouting, it’s best to have a fresh inch or two of fluffy snow on the ground. Without the snow, it’s nearly impossible to see their tracks. Plus, I believe that when the ground is brown, the weasels are more shy to travel in the open because predators and hawks can spot their white fur easily.
Where to Look for Weasel Tracks
Once you have some fresh snow to work with, you’ll want to look for tracks. I always look near culverts, where the ice meets the cattails, and in the open parts of drainage ditches. As long as you have a decent population in the area, you’ll find where they are traveling.
Culverts are especially a great option because you can put the weasel box inside of them to protect it from heavy snow. If the snow gets too deep, they get harder to trap as the ermine will travel in the open pockets under the snow in thick grass or cattails searching for mice to eat.
“If you think a location would be good for pheasants to hole up in, it’s probably also good for weasel trapping.”
Bait and Lure for Weasel Trapping
Bait and lures are pretty simple and cheap as they are carnivores. For bait, I've found that fresh chunks of beaver meat are hard to beat. You can also use parts of muskrat carcasses, venison scraps, or chicken livers. You don’t want to use anything that is tainted. As far as lures are concerned you can use a commercially made weasel lure, long distance call lures with skunk in them such as Gusto or Nose Burner, or anise oil.
How to Trap Weasels
There are a few methods on how to trap weasels, but using a weasel box is by far the simplest method. Weasel boxes keep your traps out of the elements and working regardless of the temperature.
For a trap you can use either a rat trap with the plastic pan or a #1 longspring, or #1 1/2 longspring depending on the size of the box. The trap will be placed directly under the entrance hole so the weasel can jump in and land directly unto the pan. The bait will be placed in the back, and the lure can be placed on the lid or in the back of the box with the bait.
