Weasels welcome at Monroe ranch

  • By Sharon Wootton Herald Columnist
  • Friday, October 5, 2007 1:43pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Have you ever seen meerkats, the southern Africa plains mammals famous for their posture? They often stand upright on their hind legs and look around.

While Bob and Kay Clark of Snohomish don’t have meerkats on their Circle KB Ranch near Monroe, they were first entertained this year by long-tailed weasels with similar behavior. The relationship began earlier this year when the Clarks were in their home one night near sunset.

“I happened to look outside and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ ” Bob said of the animals with reddish-brown backs and creamy undersides.

“We had a den of them under what used to be a hen house. … Four young and two adults were doing this display where they’d pop their heads up, sit up real straight, go back down, then pop up again, sit up real straight, then go down. I never dreamed they’d do the meerkat routine.”

Or the weasels would pop up and look around, then run to another opening, whether a hole in the ground or a crevice in a pile of lumber, providing Bob and Kay with 45 minutes of entertainment.

The long-tailed weasel, the most widespread carnivore in the Western Hemisphere, is a solitary roaming animal except during the mating season. If a male finds a female with pups, it will mate with the female and sometimes mate with female pups, which are sexually mature at three months.

Delayed implantation allows females to wait on egg development until March with pups not arriving until April or early May. The pups, usually four to eight, are born nearly blind in an underground nest lined with rodent or rabbit fur. The tunnel branches, some used for food storage, others as a latrine.

Usually only the mother brings food to the pups, then takes them hunting in about six weeks. They disperse several weeks later. Since the Clarks saw the group as two larger weasels and four smaller ones, it’s possible the larger ones were males (who when they leave are larger than their mother), and that everyone would soon disperse.

Although the Clarks were having mole problems, they opted to let the weasels deal with it because mole traps and poison might have killed the weasels.

“They’re nice animals to have around. We have no rats or mice problems at all,” Bob said.

The slim long-bodied and short-legged long-tail weasels can chase prey (mice, rats, voles, chipmunks, shrews, rabbits) into their tunnels, often lining the tunnel with the dead animals’ fur for future use.

After using sound and scent to track its prey, a weasel kills by crushing the skull with its long canine teeth. Weasels have even gone after squirrels in trees.

A long-tailed weasel has a high rate of metabolism and in the winter might need to eat about 40 percent of its body weight each day. (Adult weasels weigh up to 12 ounces.) But it’s not at the top of the food chain, so weasels become crunchies for foxes, coyotes, hawks and owls.

Although a sinuous 11 to 18 inches in length plus another 3 to 6 inches for the black-tipped tail, they can enter a small rodent tunnel measuring just 1½ inches across.

While the Clarks benefit from weasel behavior, poultry owners’ spin on long-tailed weasels might be different because weasels can go on killing sprees. It’s not a rogue weasel that’s the problem. Instinct tells them to kill when the opportunity arises and then stash what they don’t eat.

On the book shelf: Bill Thorness’ “Biking Puget Sound: 50 Rides from Olympia to the San Juans” ($17, Mountaineers Books) will give bikers plenty of options for what’s left of the season.

“Biking” includes good maps, mileage logs, useful elevation graphs, photographs and five rides in Snohomish County.

Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Everett P. Fog, 15, in front of an Everett mural along Colby Avenue on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Hello, Everett! No escape when your name is same as the town

Everett P. Fog, 15, sees and hears his first name wherever he goes. His middle name is also epic.

Jared Meads takes a breath after dunking in an ice bath in his back yard while his son Fallen, 5, reads off the water temperature on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Chill out: Dive into the cold plunge craze

Plungers say they get mental clarity and relief for ails in icy water in tubs, troughs and clubs.

Schack exhibit to highlight Camano Island watercolorists

“Four Decades of Friendship: John Ebner & John Ringen” will be on display Jan. 16 through Feb. 9.

XRT Trim Adds Rugged Features Designed For Light Off-Roading
Hyundai Introduces Smarter, More Capable Tucson Compact SUV For 2025

Innovative New Convenience And Safety Features Add Value

Sequoia photo provided by Toyota USA Newsroom
If Big Is Better, 2024 Toyota Sequoia Is Best

4WD Pro Hybrid With 3-Rows Elevates Full-Size

2025 Toyota Land Cruiser (Provided by Toyota).
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser revives its roots

After a 3-year hiatus, the go-anywhere SUV returns with a more adventurous vibe.

Enjoy the wilderness in the CX-50. Photo provided by Mazda USA Newsroom
2025 Mazda CX-50 Adds Hybrid Capability to Turbo Options

Line-Up Receives More Robust List Of Standard Equipment

Practical And Functional bZ4X basks in sunshine. Photo provided by Toyota Newsroom.
2024 bZ4X Puts Toyota Twist On All-Electric SUV’s

Modern Styling, Tech & All-Wheel Drive Highlight

Photo provided by Mazda USA Newsroom
2025 Mazda3 Turbo Premium Plus Hatch Delivers Value

Plus Functionality of AWD And G-Vectoring

2025 Mazda CX-90 Turbo SUV (Provided by Mazda)
2025 CX-90 Turbo models get Mazda’s most powerful engine

Mazda’s largest-ever SUV is equipped to handle the weight, with fuel efficiency kept in check.

Provided by Bridges Pets, Gifts, & Water Gardens.
Discover where to find the best pet supplies in town

Need the perfect store to spoil your furry friends? Herald readers have you covered.

VW Jetta SEL is a sedan that passes for a coupe. Photo provided by Volkswagen U.S. Media.
2025 VW Jetta Offers Greater Refinement, Technology And Value

A Perfect Choice For Small Families And Commuters

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.