End of year favourites - Weasel

2024 has been the year of the weasel.  I have had at least one camera set more or less every day, mostly in the camera box.  At one stage the camera there was recording two visits a day, but fewer in the early part of the year and more recently.

In March I set a trap, baited with carrot, hoping to catch one of the rabbits.  When I looked through the kitchen window the next morning I could see the trap was empty but as I watched a weasel appeared.  It went through the camera box and as it emerged I was willing it not to go into the rabbit trap but, being curious by nature, of course it did.  I went out to release it within a minute or two and it didn't seem distressed, just trying to work out how to escape.  Once I had opened the door it ran, but only as far as the camera box where it turned round to have a good look at me.  Even when it had gone through to the other side it turned round to check on me. Here's the video.

The next video is from June and features the two main weasels of the year, two males I call weasel 1 (white paws) and weasel 2 (brown paws) - there have been seven different weasels altogether.  I had been leaving a dead wood mouse under a slate to give the camera time to react.  On this occasion weasel 1 came and took the mouse.

Fifteen minutes later weasel 2 appeared and could smell the mouse but couldn't find it and eventually had to give up.

There were lots of weasel visits up to late summer but fewer in autumn.  I am hoping for many more in 2025.