4 ms·

Weasels Are Built for the Hunt

42 points by Vigier 10y ago

fhood 10y ago
I feel that they should have included more otter and weasel pictures. Because otters and weasels are super cute.
davidhegarty 10y ago
I know this thread is about Weasels... but can I just use this opportunity to drop a recommendation for one of the funniest documentaries ever made: https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Excellence-Ferrets/dp/B000RL21RW https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Excellence-Ferrets/dp/B000RL2... (I think it's available to stream on Prime)
- thisone 10y ago
  Thanks for the link to that. I'd seen parts of it, but hadn't known they'd come from a larger documentary. All the talk about breeding is a bit hard for me to listen to. I know it's different in the US, but here in the UK rescues are full of ferrets that have been found wandering or have been given over. Or sometimes your vet knows you have ferrets and calls you up asking if you want to adopt one that was found wandering and hasn't been claimed (our youngest came to us that way)
- sgrove 10y ago
  I have Prime, but I can't seem to figure out how to stream it - it only shows the option if I'm not logged in. Anyone know where to click?
  - Buttons840 10y ago
    Are you sure it's available to stream?
Aelinsaar 10y ago
There are few things more charming and bizarrely cute than the 'Weasel War Dance'.
- spdegabrielle 10y ago
  Primates are not the only game in town. http://youtu.be/uZOjwzInj2g http://youtu.be/uZOjwzInj2g
  - Aelinsaar 10y ago
    That video is the cure for depression, in cuddly form.
hatchnyc 10y ago
Weasels are amazing creatures, highly intelligent, playful, and very friendly. It is a shame that so many negative misconceptions persist and are perpetually reinforced in the media, especially movies where ferrets are used as a comedic stand in for "vicious wild animal". Hopefully this article will help change that.
mod 10y ago
Do one thing, and do it well.
- josephcooney 10y ago
  The flip-side: Specialization is for insects.
nkurz 10y ago
I recently watched a wild weasel, and learned something that should have been obvious: they are excellent tree climbers! Not "they can eventually make it up a tree", but almost "custom designed for the purpose". This makes sense, as they are closely related to martens, who are agile enough in trees to chase down and eat grey squirrels[1]. But somehow I'd never made the connection, and had thought of weasels as ground-bound. [1] https://theconversation.com/resurgent-pine-martens-could-be-good-news-for-red-squirrels-46051 https://theconversation.com/resurgent-pine-martens-could-be-...
emptybits 10y ago
Weasel story. At a small software company I worked for in the early 1990s, management included staff in a rebranding exercise. It was suggested (by management) that a majestic eagle could represent the firm and appear in corporate imagery. Reasonable. But we were a blue chip financial software company serving the Corporate Treasury function so several of us in R&D endorsed the weasel as a superior image. We invoked Stephen Wright: "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Clearly a trustworthy, safe, and reliable choice for our clients. Management went with the eagle. And now I learn that weasels are also prolific hunters?? Sigh.
i336_ 10y ago
Here's the source video of that GIF I would imagine everyone's seen: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=476393822444 https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=476393822444 The same author posted a different video of the same tree to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYlhQKmDovk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYlhQKmDovk Then there's this video of a pet (edge-case rescue) least weasel, which is a definite candidate for relevancy here (along with all the other videos in the associated YT account): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oaDzy0-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oaDzy0-Q Also, I'm not sure if you'll see it, but YT's video relevancy/subject analysis system is neat: http://i.imgur.com/zvLG5nu.png http://i.imgur.com/zvLG5nu.png
SAI_Peregrinus 10y ago
There are some people who hunt using mink (a type of mustelid). eg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT_wuVD1eHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT_wuVD1eHc
- reseal05 10y ago
  It's mostly one guy in the Salt Lake City area who enjoys the challenge and uses his video channel to convince a few others to do the same. He's a real expert in animal handling whose obsession with hunting and willfulness (no one could convince him that minks were impossible to tame) seem to help him relate to mustelids. But minks' stubborn and feisty temperaments make them some of the most difficult animals of their size for most people to keep as pets. I follow this community pretty closely.

42 points by Vigier 10y ago

fhood 10y ago

I feel that they should have included more otter and weasel pictures. Because otters and weasels are super cute.

I know this thread is about Weasels... but can I just use this opportunity to drop a recommendation for one of the funniest documentaries ever made: https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Excellence-Ferrets/dp/B000RL21RW https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Excellence-Ferrets/dp/B000RL2... (I think it's available to stream on Prime)

thisone 10y ago
Thanks for the link to that. I'd seen parts of it, but hadn't known they'd come from a larger documentary. All the talk about breeding is a bit hard for me to listen to. I know it's different in the US, but here in the UK rescues are full of ferrets that have been found wandering or have been given over. Or sometimes your vet knows you have ferrets and calls you up asking if you want to adopt one that was found wandering and hasn't been claimed (our youngest came to us that way)
sgrove 10y ago
I have Prime, but I can't seem to figure out how to stream it - it only shows the option if I'm not logged in. Anyone know where to click?
- Buttons840 10y ago
  Are you sure it's available to stream?

Aelinsaar 10y ago

There are few things more charming and bizarrely cute than the 'Weasel War Dance'.

spdegabrielle 10y ago
Primates are not the only game in town. http://youtu.be/uZOjwzInj2g http://youtu.be/uZOjwzInj2g
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  That video is the cure for depression, in cuddly form.

hatchnyc 10y ago

Weasels are amazing creatures, highly intelligent, playful, and very friendly. It is a shame that so many negative misconceptions persist and are perpetually reinforced in the media, especially movies where ferrets are used as a comedic stand in for "vicious wild animal". Hopefully this article will help change that.

mod 10y ago

Do one thing, and do it well.

josephcooney 10y ago
The flip-side: Specialization is for insects.

nkurz 10y ago

I recently watched a wild weasel, and learned something that should have been obvious: they are excellent tree climbers! Not "they can eventually make it up a tree", but almost "custom designed for the purpose". This makes sense, as they are closely related to martens, who are agile enough in trees to chase down and eat grey squirrels[1]. But somehow I'd never made the connection, and had thought of weasels as ground-bound. [1] https://theconversation.com/resurgent-pine-martens-could-be-good-news-for-red-squirrels-46051 https://theconversation.com/resurgent-pine-martens-could-be-...

emptybits 10y ago

Weasel story. At a small software company I worked for in the early 1990s, management included staff in a rebranding exercise. It was suggested (by management) that a majestic eagle could represent the firm and appear in corporate imagery. Reasonable. But we were a blue chip financial software company serving the Corporate Treasury function so several of us in R&D endorsed the weasel as a superior image. We invoked Stephen Wright: "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Clearly a trustworthy, safe, and reliable choice for our clients. Management went with the eagle. And now I learn that weasels are also prolific hunters?? Sigh.

i336_ 10y ago

Here's the source video of that GIF I would imagine everyone's seen: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=476393822444 https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=476393822444 The same author posted a different video of the same tree to YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYlhQKmDovk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYlhQKmDovk Then there's this video of a pet (edge-case rescue) least weasel, which is a definite candidate for relevancy here (along with all the other videos in the associated YT account): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oaDzy0-Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6oaDzy0-Q Also, I'm not sure if you'll see it, but YT's video relevancy/subject analysis system is neat: http://i.imgur.com/zvLG5nu.png http://i.imgur.com/zvLG5nu.png

SAI_Peregrinus 10y ago

There are some people who hunt using mink (a type of mustelid). eg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT_wuVD1eHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT_wuVD1eHc

reseal05 10y ago
It's mostly one guy in the Salt Lake City area who enjoys the challenge and uses his video channel to convince a few others to do the same. He's a real expert in animal handling whose obsession with hunting and willfulness (no one could convince him that minks were impossible to tame) seem to help him relate to mustelids. But minks' stubborn and feisty temperaments make them some of the most difficult animals of their size for most people to keep as pets. I follow this community pretty closely.