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Gidday

I wondered what was killing my chooks. 4 dead out of the 6, not very good stats Eh!

Well I got some traps and this is what I caught:-


A skunk, pollcat or ferret or something but the little buger is dead now. But I didn't realize it but she had brought the family as well. Over the last 7 days I have caught 8 of the buggers. How many more to go???????

looks like a polecat-ferret cross bit small for a pure polecat but has the pole cat markings unlike mink they only kill to eat not for pleasure.

That's very small if it is 20cm long. Or do you by chance have a tape measure in inches, which is also puzzling, as you guys have been metric for .... well I don't know how long!

Looks like inches M3 - it says 1ft instead of 12

Gidday

Yep inches. Stretched out it was 2 foot.

The bloody count is now 9 in 8 days.

This is a ferret


This is a polecat



Looking at your pic Jack I'd say it was a ferret!


Mind you having had another look at the pics they are very similar!

Is it a Pine Martin? are they quite rare and illegal to kill and protected?????

Here's a pine martin



Jack's in NZ, what's considered a protected species in some parts of the world doesn't always apply in NZ, they have a fair amount of introduced species that are deemed pests, a possum is one of them!

Or do you by chance have a tape measure in inches, which is also puzzling, as you guys have been metric for .... well I don't know how long!

It depends what we are measuring M3!

Tree height is often measured in chains. Horses in hands. River depth in metres. Penises and Weird-freaky-little-ferretty-critters.... Always inches.

Boots wrote: Penises .... Always inches.

That's just asking for someone to say "We measure ours in poles, here". I wonder who it'll be?

Gidday

Actually I am measuring these little buggers in the number kill. and the thought of two thirds of my chooks dead.

And if you or anyone else tries to protect them you will need protectin too.

Is it not a stoat then? We definately have stoats here.

Too big for a Stoat.

A Stoat is not much bigger than a large rat but twice as long.

I have watched them work, they are in and out of stone walls like a snake after mice and rats----a perfect killing machine.

A Ferret is a Stoat/Weasil crossed with something which i cant remember which is why Ferrets are about 3 times the size of a Stoat/Weasil

Again the Ferret has the killing characteristics of the Stoat/Weasil.

Make a good Trappers Hat out of them Jack

This is the same size as one that got into my rabbit pen a few years ago, but my varmint was almost all white and looked like a beefed up version of yours (had stocky shoulders and chest even when laid out lengthways). I was told it was a stoat with a winter coat, but having searched Google images am not convinced. Scariest part was the teeth - bit right through the end of my leather motorbike glove (thankfully the glove was a bit big for me!) S'Funny how quick you can lose the civilised, merciful streak in you when your fight or flight mechanism kicks in!!

Thanks for the interesting infomation on measurements Boots!