r/animalid • u/greenferret1 • Jul 10 '23
White... weasel? in my wall š¦¦ š¦” MUSTELID: WEASEL/MARTEN/BADGER š¦” š¦¦
Photo is by a contractor in February in Hudson Valley area, New York state. Posting now as I think he may have returned inside my walls. A browse of Wikipedia suggested only weasels in the area might be all white in winter, but hopefully y'all know more definitively.
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u/Monster_Voice Jul 11 '23
It's a nice day for a... white weasel...
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Jul 11 '23
Disappointed I had to scroll so far to find this reply, happy you're doing the lord's work.
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Jul 10 '23
To clarify an ermine is the same thing as a short tailed weasel or stoat, the extra names come from the fur trade, Ermine=white winter coat, Stoat=Brown summer coat
It looks too big to be a least weasel, but I canāt really tell if itās a long tailed or short tailed weasel
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 10 '23
"Short-tailed weasel" is just an American synonym for "stoat" so they can still be called stoats even when in ermine. I prefer "stoat" over "short-tailed weasel" because least weasels actually have shorter tails, so the name is a little misleading. Weasel nomenclature is so fucked lol
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u/Glad-Degree-4270 Jul 11 '23
Least are very rare in NY. When I was teaching mammals Iām pretty sure the last record was from 1998. Long tailed are most common, especially then further south you get.
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u/mothwhimsy Jul 11 '23
Do they commonly stay white this late in the year?
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 11 '23
OP said this photo was from February. The timing for their color changes varies but all stoats and weasels will be in their summer coat by the beginning of summer.
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u/StellaaaT Jul 11 '23
I had a ermine get into my house a few years ago, probably followed the mice in. After a few days of eating my dogās food and drinking out of his water dish and scrabbling about in the walls (we had no mice for months after) we finally managed to live-trap it. Tried fish, meat and peanut butter but the bait of choice was marzipan icing from a Christmas cake. Just a tip if you want to trap it.
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u/vulpes_mortuis Jul 11 '23
Aww cute little guy š„¹
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u/StellaaaT Jul 11 '23
S/he was adorable. We released it in the backyard where weād seen its tracks and it never came in again.
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u/Rainbow_baby_x Jul 11 '23
This would have made my childhood dreams come true. They were my favorite animal growing up š„¹
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u/Marshviper23 Jul 11 '23
White weasle in my wall! White weasle in my wall! There is a white weasel in my wall! When I wake to the whining on a Wednesday to a white weasel wailing in my wall all I can do is whistle along and be thankful I'm not a white weasle in my wall, but here in my bed.
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u/vyyne Jul 11 '23
That's an ermine! Excellent mouse control. They don't kill every mouse, but get the population way down, move on and then come back!
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u/Specialist-Delay4049 Jul 11 '23
Iāve been looking up weasels/ermines now for 20 min they are cuteeee i want one
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u/showard995 Jul 11 '23
Itās an ermine, theyāre like a weasel but turn white in the winter.
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 11 '23
Weasels and stoats will both turn white in winter depending on the area. "Ermine" just refers to the white winter coat of a stoat or weasel :)
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u/L1feguard51 Jul 11 '23
Get rid of any rat or mice traps or poison. You donāt need them anymore, and you donāt want to hurt your new mouse terminator friend.
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u/funnydontneedthat Jul 11 '23
My dumb ass thought this was a ferret group and was about to tell you to kiss a wild weasel.
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u/MeerkatMer Jul 11 '23
The white weasel is gonna get cancer if you donāt stop it from eating that delicious insulation that looks like cotton candy
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u/danifoxx_1209 Jul 11 '23
Ermine or mink maybe. My sister got bit by one that looked very similar to mine and we figured it wan an ermine
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u/thezenfisherman Jul 11 '23
Saw some guys over in England hunt rabbits with ferrets. It was pretty cool.
https://www.ferret-world.com/ferrets-as-pets/ferret-hunting/
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u/Walu_lolo Jul 11 '23
We just discovered a weasel camps under our back deck, and I am so excited as we have a chipmunk infestation. Enough food for years
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u/Various_Cricket4695 Jul 11 '23
If thatās my residence, Iād be MUCH more concerned about the possible asbestos heās crawling around in. Iād want to know how old that insulation is. The history of that company is horrific:
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u/dudenowaythisisreal Jul 11 '23
Very lucky. I had a rat infestation until I allowed some stray cats to take up residency on my property. Now I go get to say hello to pretty kitties that wander around my yard and find half eaten rat corpses all the time. But no live rats! Not a single one.
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u/guydoinstufff Jul 11 '23
Ah the rare Norther Wall Weasel. Usually they prefer Owens-Corning insulation.
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u/Villedo Jul 11 '23
Wow! A natural pest control! Take it as a blessing let the little one carry on.
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u/elsbeth- Jul 11 '23
Some white ones are ermines. I had a white ferret who looked exactly like an ermine. (This might also be an escaped ferret).
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u/COREY-IS-A-BUSTA Jul 11 '23
That looks like a pet ferret
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u/overlordmeow Jul 11 '23
as a ferret owner, it does not. it looks like some kind of least weasel. :) they're smaller and their faces are different from the domesticated noodles!
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u/Extreme-Disaster8561 Jul 11 '23
Kinda looks like a ferret
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 11 '23
Ferrets are closely related but are a bit bulkier than weasels. Ferrets and other polecats look like strength builds, stoats and weasels look like dex builds
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u/COREY-IS-A-BUSTA Jul 11 '23
Yeah but that looks exactly like an albino pet ferret
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u/overlordmeow Jul 11 '23
as someone with white ferrets, not quite. :) it's definitely smaller and less chonky than a domesticated noodle, and the face is different. definitely some kind of least weasel. very similar tho!
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u/kwheels43 Jul 11 '23
Looks like a wild ferret/ weasel whatever. Iām in western NY and have seen them out in the wild before
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u/redwitch-1 Jul 11 '23
Nobody here concerned about these animals in your walls? In my country we have martens which crawl into walls and attics and they gather chickenās heads and the likes there. Smelly and unhygienic. Also the poo in your walls is not very nice. It is really difficult to get rid of them, since we arenāt allowed to kill them, and if they accidentally get killed, another one takes its place. The devices that make a high pitch sound may help for a bit, but they donāt always help!
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 11 '23
Weasels are smaller than martens and won't cause as much damage, and they'll leave once they're out of prey. They won't den permanently in your house like a beech marten may. Of course having any animal in your walls isn't great but since the weasel is killing off the rodents he's actually a net benefit :)
As for your marten problem you can try using dog hair/urine as a repellant, but your only permanent solution would be to seal any holes the martens are using to get in in the first place. As you said if you kill one you've just made a vacancy for a new marten to move in, so in this case exclusion is both the most humane option and the only one that will work.
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u/Certain_Western2481 Jul 11 '23
Is nobody going to make a Reno911 reference here? Iām shocked and frankly a bit disappointed in all of you.
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u/FMroll Jul 11 '23
This could be the start of your own "Alice in Wonderland"...just follow the white weasel.
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u/RottenPP777 Jul 11 '23
I have a pet ferret and theyāre awesome. Theyāre great predators that sleep all day and hunt at night. My ferret will sometimes sleep 16 hours a day. But when the moon comes out he becomes the wolf of the house, hunting what ever else we got in the house with us. Besides our tamaskan and 3 Maine coons. If you wanted you could attempt to tame this guy, they form bonds with other animals you have including you and love cuddling.
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u/burntoutugly Jul 11 '23
I could have certainly used one of these little guys. I finally removed the mice but am finding caches of dogfood with Infestation of these tiny black bugs. I don't know how to get these bugs gone now.
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u/1GrouchyCat Jul 11 '23
This article is from 2019 and focuses on the issue in Maine- apparently itās a āthingāā¦ (Iāve never heard of one INSIDE the walls in a house, but we do see them out and about here on Cape Cod ā¦ )
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u/DawnExplosion Jul 12 '23
As long as you don't have chickens, you're good. Let the ermine wipe out your mice.
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u/GitterfulAcorn Jul 12 '23
I'd only worry about it having contact with my pets.. I would also worry about it roaming free and getting on my counters. They can carry disease. If it's sticking to the inside of the walls you should be fine. I think.
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u/Mustelafan weaselly identified, stoatally different Jul 10 '23
Seconding either Mustela erminea or Neogale frenata. Either way he's probably hunting mice in your house. They'll move in, wipe out the mice, and leave. That's probably what happened the first time, and now that the mice are back so is he.
I'd recommend you just let him do his thing. He won't cause much trouble and he'll move out when he's taken care of the rodents. I'd avoid using any rodenticides while he's there, they can kill him through secondary exposure and he'll do a better job than any poison, mousetrap, or barn cat anyway. They can be very good friends to have, in addition to being adorable and very fun to watch.