Many people living in rural areas breed poultry. Such farmers often face many different challenges, including pest control. After reading this article, you will learn what to do so that the weasel does not climb into the chicken coop.
What is this animal?
This predator belongs to the marten family. The weasel, the photo of which will be presented in this article, has a thin elongated body, a very long and rather thick neck. The back of the animal is covered with thick, short, brownish-brown hair. Weasel is found on all continents of the Northern Hemisphere. Usually this animal settles under stones, in the fields, and even in crevices of rocks. It is so flexible that it is often compared to a snake. This impression is especially enhanced when he easily crawls through small holes in the walls or into narrow crevices between stones.
Weasel hunts at any time of the day. The basis of her diet is chickens, pigeons, hares, rabbits, moles, hamsters and rats. They also eat frogs, small fish, brownies, forest and field mice.
How to protect poultry from these predators?
To prevent weasel from getting on your farmyard, you need to remodel the old wooden floor in the chicken coop. If it is earthy, then it should be covered with a fresh board. Near the house there should not be garbage, branches and dumps in which the animal could hide. In the walls of the building intended for keeping chickens, it is advisable to change all rotten boards, block the passages and fill the gaps through which the animal can penetrate into the premises.
Weasel Hunting Methods
If you notice that this small predator has visited your chicken coop, you need to take action. Before you catch a caress, you should familiarize yourself with the methods of hunting for this animal existing today.
Most often, animals are caught with the help of a dog, small traps, breakthroughs, toilet seats, ice cubs, mules, dies or tracing. The main part of the devices is designed to capture live predators. As a rule, they are installed near the entrance to the hole in which the weasel lives (photos show how this pest looks). Traps can be placed on permanent manholes, which the animal dug. However, this method of hunting harms the skin of an animal.
How to get rid of affection with traps?
These devices include not only purchased, but also home-made devices. All of them are distinguished by a special design. In addition, the presence of bait is considered a prerequisite for the successful completion of the hunt. In most cases, a mixture consisting of ten grams of peppermint oil and three hundred grams of fish oil is used for these purposes. To the resulting mass is added meat, small bird, pickled fish, rotten eggs, cattail seed or sour cream.
It should be remembered that frame traps should be used to capture animals living in natural conditions, away from human habitation. When choosing such devices, it is necessary to give preference to structures of the smallest sizes.
Catching a predator with a dog
Before you catch a caress, you need to train the dog. According to most experts, likes are best suited for these purposes. Moreover, the dog should not only take the desired track, but also be able to correctly unravel it, track it to the place where the animal lurked, and notify the owner that the prey is in the hole. Having overtaken affection and barking, the dog proceeds to capture. To do this, he tears the earth and takes out a predator. The main advantage of this technique is that a well-trained dog can hunt not only during the day, but also at night.
Features of the use of samolov and cells
Those who are interested in how to catch affection should definitely learn about another effective way. It consists in the use of a home-made mechanism, adapted for catching the animal. In this case, the hunter himself must hide in advance and disguise himself near the place of the alleged appearance of the predator. This method is advisable to apply in the evening. Do not neglect the fact that a cornered weasel, devoid of escape routes, can attack a person standing nearby.
In some cases, the use of special cages with small holes between strong metal bars is allowed. A small and brisk weasel easily cuts through wooden lattices and crawls through widely located openings. Inside the cage, you must put a bait made from the above ingredients.
Repellers and folk methods
Those who already understand how to catch a weasel, but do not set themselves the task of catching an uninvited visitor, can be recommended to pay attention to special devices. These electronic repellers are installed in the chicken coop. They emit low-frequency signals, causing panic among predators and forcing them to leave the forbidden territory.
Those who do not have the opportunity to purchase such a device can use an alternative option. For such purposes, a conventional flashlight equipped with motion sensors is suitable. When an uninvited guest approaches, the device starts to reproduce light and sound signals that scare away the animal.
Our grandmothers smeared the walls of the hen house with tar. Despite the fact that this method has long been used by villagers, it is not very effective. This is because the animal can enter the house through the roof. In addition, no one guarantees that the smell of tar can scare caress.
How to build a makeshift trap?
The animal, who settled near the chicken coop, can cause significant losses. He ravages bird's nests, steals chicks and eggs. Therefore, rural residents are trying by any means to get rid of these predators. Often people use makeshift traps.
To make this primitive design, you will need a bait, a bucket and a two-liter plastic bottle. With the latter you need to cut the neck and bottom. After that, you can proceed with further actions. To string the bait, you should make a spear-shaped cutting at the neck.
Putting a piece of meat on the resulting device, you need to place it in the place where the weasel was noticed. It is important that the side with the bait hangs slightly from the table or chair. Under this edge, it is necessary to substitute a bucket with a slightly open lid, which would be able to slam at the slightest swing. The animal caught in this trap must be taken away from home and released into the wild.