Weasel riding a woodpecker!
 

This photo is going viral today on the net. I first saw it on Weather.com

So I was at National Geographic website for another reason and found this long article about it:


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Both the woodpecker and weasel survived this flight BTW.

But I found it very interesting.

That is amazing mrsD - thanks for sharing.

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Here is the BBC News story with a video of Mr Le-May and his superb semi-pro camera kit. Puts to rest any questions in my mind. I have seen weasels bringing down adult rabbits many times their size, they are fearless superpredators.
A good link, as usual, MrsD.

Dave.

In 2012 when we went upNorth for our vacation... Weezie was our only cat. Oreo had just gone to the Rainbow bridge, losing her battle and remission with cancer. Oreo would have protected Weez, but she had just been put down before we left. The vet didn't think the trip and location would be advisable and she was terminal anyway... sigh.

We have gardening stuff under our old dock up there. The second day (over a weekend) Weezie became very ill. The following Monday a local vet who was a ferry ride and 30miles away squeezed us in. He couldn't find a bite but her fever was very high so he gave her a special long acting antibiotic shot (thinking she had a bite somewhere). 3 days later the abscess appeared and we went back and he said he thought it was a shrew bite. But after reading this article about the weasel I think she spooked one upon our arrival who was living under the dock (this dock is on dry ground since the water levels retreated many years ago.). I noticed lots of squealing at US that first day too. Initially I thought she had a run in with a mink as we have those commonly too. But the bite location and tiny tooth injury which could not be seen by the vet initially, leads me now to think it could have been a weasel.

She scratched the fur off as the abscess healed, and here is a photo of it: I think our mystery animal was indeed a weasel, now. They can be ferocious and Weez had never seen one before. The location of the bite, suggests this. She has brought small rabbits to us, and chipmunks, so I can see her trying for a weasel too.

World's Deadliest - Stoat Hypnotizes Rabbit:
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Perhaps Weezie witnessed this Dance of Death. I have seen it performed first-hand (stoat/weasel are similar apart from size and tail), and a hunting cat would view it as prey in trouble - warranting an attack with a nasty surprise!

Dave.

That was very interesting. Thanks Dave!;)

I wonder if a Ferret is a smaller version of a Weasel or Stoat.
I should look that up.

My father came from a family of stockmen and drovers and they eventually bred Marino sheep in South Australia. Rabbits were introduced to Australia and are a pest and particularly so when keeping sheep in great numbers because of the rabbit holes in the ground.

Anyway to cut a very long story very short, I recall being told stories in my childhood of my father's job when growing up to look after the ferrets and he used to send the ferrets down the rabbit holes to get the rabbits to run out. No idea where they got the ferrets. They would have to have been introduced too.

The weasels we have upNorth are least weasels, a member of the mustild family.

Here is a list of mustilds...


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Notice the ferret... it is really a type of weasel.

Notice the photo of how the weasel is trying to kill a rabbit. It is just like the woodpecker photo.

Weezie had a scrape on her nose and a running left eye at 2am after her altercation, also. It was pretty awful being on the island in pitch dark with no electricity in the boonies, trying to help her. Then not being able to find a vet. I called Dr. Groover and his wife gave me suggestions on what to do to get her out of her coma like state.
I had to mix up a sugar solution and give a milliliter or so every 10 minutes to keep her out of a hepatic syndrome. It worked, enough for us to get her to the vet on that following Monday afternoon. And Dr. Groover was brilliant and Weez recovered with no further events! Now our vet here gives me 10 tablets of Clavamox for her as a prophylatic treatment option should we have a repeat injury. Hers was the 2nd injury in all the years we took the cats up there! Oreo had a tail injury that defied explanation up there 10 yrs before. But none others for the other cats in 30 yrs.

The least weasel is really small... about the size of a chipmunk... only much more ferocious.

Poor Weezie. :(

Very interesting. Thank you.
Carnivora.
I guess that means that people who keep ferrets these days for household pets need to feed them mice or something. I didn't know any of that.
Also very interesting is the fact that gestation can take a year. They've evolved so that they bear young in favourable conditions.

edited to add; Just checked and although I knew it was illegal to keep rabbits here in my State, it's also illegal to keep ferrets.

I think there is a ferret chow, for them. But they are tough to keep as pets. They will climb up chimneys in fireplaces, tear up rugs and furniture, steal things and hide them, and most importantly BITE frequently. I don't think I could handle that.


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People I've met over the years say they do indeed bite!

I have a nature book upNorth that claims that weasels kill even when not hungry...they tend to stash the kills for later. Hence they are always dangerous and bloodthirsty.