What's massacring our Mustelids?? (1 Viewer)

Cuckoo-shrike · Aug 15, 2004

A few months ago, we found a dead Stoat on the nature reserve I help to manage, Windmill Farm, here on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. We sent the corpse to the Veterinary Investigation Centre for analysis. It had suffered severe trauma to the head, but was otherwise a healthy animal in good condition.
In the last few days I have found no less than three dead Weasels on the farm. Again, a post mortem on the first one has revealed that it met a similar fate to the Stoat, and the corpses of the other two look to have gone the same way. No attempt has been made to eat any of the flesh of the animals.
Can anyone suggest how these Mustelids might have met their ends?
Thanks
Andy

jpoyner · Aug 15, 2004

I wonder if a local cat is to blame? This could explain why no attempt is made to eat the corpse. Well fed domestic cats often just kill for the sake of it.

JP

Cuckoo-shrike · Aug 15, 2004

Aquila said:
No attempt has been made to eat any of the flesh of the animals.

.....by whatever killed them, I meant, not by me. :'D (Ever tasted Battered Weasel?)
Andy

Cuckoo-shrike · Aug 15, 2004

Thanks JP, but we've never seen a cat anywhere near the place so I think that's unlikely.
Andy

Nightranger · Aug 16, 2004

Aquila said:
Thanks JP, but we've never seen a cat anywhere near the place so I think that's unlikely.
Andy

It sounds like someone is being nasty to your Mustellids - could the injuries have been caused by a walking stick or something similar?

Cuckoo-shrike · Aug 16, 2004

I suppose so Ian, but as we've never once seen a live Weasel there in hundreds of hours, that's unlikely.
Andy

Nightranger · Aug 16, 2004

Aquila said:
I suppose so Ian, but as we've never once seen a live Weasel there in hundreds of hours, that's unlikely.
Andy

Stoats can be particularly confiding although I have managed to get weasels to be curious too. It would not be difficult for someone who knows what they are doing to get the animals in close if they wanted. I have watched a stoat hunting through a network of vole tunnels in the grass no more than a few feet away and also had one run underneath me when I was sat on a fence. I wish I could say that I think I am wrong on this one (especially as I am a Mustellid fanatic) but there are some evil people out there.

PaulAshton · Oct 5, 2004

Weasels are often killed by foxes but not eaten, as they apparently taste disgusting!!!!

Cuckoo-shrike · Oct 6, 2004

PaulAshton said:
Weasels are often killed by foxes but not eaten, as they apparently taste disgusting!!!!

Thanks Paul. I think that's the most likely explanation.
Andy

Andrew · Oct 6, 2004

This is interesting as I always thought Weasels and Stoats were difficult to keep up with (fast) so a human hitting them might be hard to believe. What about a bird of prey?

Nightranger · Oct 6, 2004

Andrew said:
This is interesting as I always thought Weasels and Stoats were difficult to keep up with (fast) so a human hitting htem might be hard to believe. What about a bird of prey?

Hi Andrew,

Aquila mentioned the animals had shown trauma to the head and that is what made me think of humans. They could have been trapped and dumped by someone although I suppose a fox could easily crush the skull with a single bite.

Ian

Andrew · Oct 6, 2004

Hello Ian,

That is a good point. I believe Windmill farm purely a nature reserve even though I have never been there. What I am trying to say is there is probably no fishing or hunting rights in the reserve so there should be no interested parties wanting to club a weasel/stoats head to preserve stocks. Maybe it is happening on adjacent land and they make their way on to the reserve post trauma and died there? They might have struggled to the reserve knowing it is a safe haven? Is there a presence of game shooting on The Lizard?

Mind you I am not wanting to suggest strongly that it is human intervention. Could be anything, a Grey Heron stabbing it on the head or so?

saluki · Oct 7, 2004

Andrew said:
Hello Ian,

That is a good point. I believe Windmill farm purely a nature reserve even though I have never been there. What I am trying to say is there is probably no fishing or hunting rights in the reserve so there should be no interested parties wanting to club a weasel/stoats head to preserve stocks. Maybe it is happening on adjacent land and they make their way on to the reserve post trauma and died there? They might have struggled to the reserve knowing it is a safe haven? Is there a presence of game shooting on The Lizard?

Mind you I am not wanting to suggest strongly that it is human intervention. Could be anything, a Grey Heron stabbing it on the head or so?

One would normally use a trap such as a Fenn trap to catch a Stoat, which tends to crush the body rather than the head (it is possible Aquila - but the carcass would also show signs of being crushed by the jaws of the trap further down the body). Fenn traps either kill or miss in my exprience, the chances of a Stoat being wounded around the head are very remote. There are several home-made 'deadfall' traps that might cause such injury, but I can't possibly see why anyone would use one in preference to a Fenn. Another option might be a cage trap to catch them alive, then someone's knocked them on the head but, again, I think that unlikely.

To successfully call in a Stoat to within striking distance is a feat in itself. To then strike it precicely upon the head - not just the one individual, but several - is in the realms of fantasy. You're quite right Andrew - Stoats are unbelievably fast!

saluki

Nightranger · Oct 7, 2004

saluki said:
One would normally use a trap such as a Fenn trap to catch a Stoat, which tends to crush the body rather than the head (it is possible Aquila - but the carcass would also show signs of being crushed by the jaws of the trap further down the body).

saluki

Hi Saluki,

I was thinking more of a possible live trap and the method of despatch being a blow to the head. This would infer that the animals were dumped on site and I wish I could say it was unlikely but it has happened in the past. As with anything I say on BF, I am not proposing this as a definitive explanation but more as a point of discussion. I have no direct experience of the incident so - I don't know.

Cheers

Ian

Jos Stratford · Oct 7, 2004

Aquila said:
We sent the corpse to the Veterinary Investigation Centre for analysis. It had suffered severe trauma to the head, but was otherwise a healthy animal in good condition.
In the last few days I have found no less than three dead Weasels on the farm. Again, a post mortem on the first one has revealed that it met a similar fate to the Stoat, and the corpses of the other two look to have gone the same way.

If a fox, cat or heron, etc had been responsible, would there not have been tell-tale signs when examined in the post mortem? Not an expert in this area, but I would have thought tooth marks or something would be evident.

What's massacring our Mustelids?? (1 Viewer)

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