Weasel behaviour (1 Viewer)

Bill@dwp

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

• Oct 20, 2003

• #1

Yesterday I saw what I thought was weird behaviour but someone else in the hide thought was a hunting technique.
The weasel came out into the open and had what I would have described as "blue fit". I thought it was actually chasing something at first but then started jumping in the air, turning sommersaults, dashing one way and another and flipping itself over on to its back.
The bloke with me said he thought they did that to scare prey out but I thought that sounded a bit strange as the way it was going on it wouldn't have noticed. It did this a couple of times.
I thought if it had been with another weasel it would have been playing in the same manner.
Do they play on their own?

 

Michael Frankis

conehead

• Oct 20, 2003

• #2

I've seen Weasels (and Stoats) do this too. Very often it attracts a crowd of curious onlookers, wondering what on earth it is doing - Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, etc, etc, etc.

Eventually one of the crowd gets a bit too close . . . BANG! Weasel's got his dinner.

It works!

Michael

 

saluki

Well-known member

• Oct 20, 2003

• #3

Let's hope your right Michael. The other reason is rather more macabre:

" This behaviour could be a response to extreme discomfort caused by a large parasitic worm commonly found in the nasal sinuses of stoats and weasels. The presence of these worms causes distortion of the skull bones and consequent pressure on the brain. This, along with the wriggling of the worms must result in extreme irritation, and may affect the weasel's behaviour".

saluki

 

J

jayhunter

Well-known member

• Oct 20, 2003

• #4

I have never noticed a lone weasel performing like this, but when a litter of weasel kittens are playing together in front of an adult they perform these antics. I hope for its sake that Saluki on this occasion is wrong in his reasoning although I believe it can happen, I know of a case of an English woman eating Sushi in Bangladesh that was made from freshwater fish and was infested with nematodes.

 

Michael Frankis

conehead

• Oct 20, 2003

• #5

Hi Saluki,

Interesting, if rather gruesome possibility - I'd not heard of that before.

But I'd have thought its main reaction to that would be to paw its nose/face a lot, rather than run around jumping in the air?

(and when I've seen them do this, they're not pawing their faces)

Michael

 

Nina P

Nina

• Oct 20, 2003

• #6

This is definately a lure to catch whatever is nearby, I have refferred to this in the past, with stoats, and is generally known as the death dance, performed by the ferret family, and results in the demise of the closest onlooker, it is the mesmeric rhythm wich eventually creates a feeling of non threatening curiosity, rabbits are usually the victims, and I have seen this on televised wildlife programmes, as well as ini the field, so know it is common practice. Nina.

 

saluki

Well-known member

• Oct 20, 2003

• #7

Yourself and Michael may well be right Nina, I've heard far too much anecdotal evidence myself to dismiss it, and I think the program you refer to was a 'Survival Special' about stoats. Though I've seen many hundreds of both weasels and stoats and kept ferrets from the age of eleven until recently, I've never seen the behaviour myself. The quote about the parasitic worms came from the Mammal Society's website by the way:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/weasel.htm

Whatever, it certainly sounds painful - keds and ticks pale into insignificance . . .

saluki

 

Bill@dwp

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

• Oct 21, 2003

• #8

Thanks folks for the responses. Certainly interesting and I think I like the idea that its someting they do rather than Saluki's gruesome but perfectly feasible answer.
It was definitely watchable but more distracting than mesmerising but then I'm not a rabbit. There were some pheasants around could they take one of them?

 

Nina P

Nina

• Oct 29, 2003

• #9

Oh Yes, they can even take on cats, and successfully kill them! I had a weasel get into a housemartins nest, wiped them out, but the next day my late tom cat killed it, and laid it on the lawn, the neighbour had tropical birds at the time, and they were smashing the eggs they'd laid, so when I showed him the dead weasel he was very surprised the cat hadn't been killed, but delighted as the birds would settle down. Nina

 

P

PhilW

Well-known member

• Oct 31, 2003

• #10

Bill
Confirming what Nina said - I was always told, as a kid, that Weasels do this to distract their prey allowing them to get nearer beofre pouncing. The prey seem to get entranced by the Weasels antics. Saw it once in 1977 when Weasel appeared to be dancing towards group of female pheasants and suddenly grabbed one by the neck.

 

Bill@dwp

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

• Nov 4, 2003

• #11

Again thanks for the reply. I hope I see one of them do this again and I will look out for the Survival programme in case it gets repeated on cable.
Its interesting the descriptions we humans apply to these sorts of behaviour. I thought it was having a fit or playing on its own whilst it would appear to be engaging in a "death dance".
Anyway thats the beauty of these sorts of groups you learn!
Cheers again.

Bill