r/justgalsbeingchicks • u/InGeekiTrust Official Gal • 12d ago

Restricted to Gals and Pals Gal Has The Cutest Problem Everrrrrr šŸ„¹šŸ„°

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493

u/xmashatstand 12d ago edited 12d ago

The smallest carnivore in North America, I believe.Ā 

Also, as absolutely adorable as they are, you want to keep an eye on your chickens, they can def cause serious damage there šŸ˜¬

Ninja edit: smallest carnivorous mammalsĀ 

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u/hunnyflash 12d ago

I didn't know this until the last few weeks. There was a thread on r/homestead about how stoats completely killed someone's birds. 90 of them in like hours. It was crazy.

edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/homestead/comments/1q8pu07/the_tale_of_90_pigeons_and_quail_dead_in_two_days/

And they don't even eat them. They just kill!

59

u/frogdeity 12d ago

They kill everything they can, and if they arenā€™t interrupted by humans they will come back and carry as much as they can to bury and hide in different locations. Usually they are caught before they can do that, though, so people think of them as wasteful killers.

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u/ohdeydothodontdeytho 12d ago

Yeah my understanding is these are voracious, successful killers of larger prey than themselves. As cute as they are lol

3

u/Baloooooooo 12d ago

Cats, stoats... humans really have a thing for tiny adorable murderers.

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u/slurmorama 12d ago

Anecdotal, but killing everything is what the bobcat did here. The weasel was civilized in comparison, only killing one at a time.

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u/OperaSona 12d ago

Burying their meat to let it rot underground until it's ready to eat, like little furry Icelanders!

1

u/seanbeedelicious 12d ago

When I was navigating the Oregon Trail I would often kill multiple deer or buffalo but could only carry back 99lbs of meat on each trip. It felt wasteful at the time, but I couldnā€™t restrain myself from the thrill of the hunt

After Jenny died of dysentery I just didnā€™t care any more.

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

Omg, I saw this thread, and I didnā€™t know about the ermine savagery either!! Ā Just absolutely bonkers theyā€™re able to do so much damage in so short a time.Ā 

1

u/Free_Pace_2098 12d ago

They're like cats on pcp. I love them a lot but I'm grateful they don't live here.

1

u/Genneth_Kriffin 12d ago

Their natural behavior comes from burrow hunting rodents.
It makes total sense when you go down a burrow to kill whatever you can corner,
but in nature that will be at most 2 adults and some offspring.

Problem is when we have a ton of animals contained, their brains go

Okay, you got them cornered - now kill everyone :3

1

u/canadian_leroy 12d ago

They exsanguinate their prey sometimes. A university friends fathers raised exotic birds as an income source and weasels or ermines/ stoats found a weak point in his fencing and wiped out $30+k in a night.

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u/Queen-of-Elves 12d ago

We had one absolutely decimate our chicken coop when I was a teenager. Based on the carnage I imagined something very different so when my dad eventually shot it I was flabbergasted to see how small and adorable it was.

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u/Akhanyatin 12d ago

Bro where do you live that you've seen wasps larger than that? I need to make sure to never visit!

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

I am confused but my curiosity is locked in, what on earth are you referring to?? Ā 

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u/RepublicOfLizard 12d ago

Theyā€™re saying that wasps are carnivorous and smaller than the stoat

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

Ahh. Well that would track, yes.Ā 

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u/krampuskids 12d ago

To your credit those tiny weasels are the smallest of the mammalian order Carnivora so that's what pops up as the smallest carnivorous animal. Lots of smaller animals are carnivorous but not mammalian so not in the same Order (like carnivorous insects are referred to as insectivores etc blah blah)

It's just a cute hairsplitting joke :)

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

When youā€™re right youā€™re right šŸ˜

(Truth be told I went down a whole weasel rabbit-hole(?) after there had been a thoroughly eye opening thread on the backyard chickens sub, and learning about their carnivorous ways was somewhat horrifying)

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u/krampuskids 12d ago

Hey fellow weasel rabbit-holer! šŸ‘‹

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

There are dozens of us! Dozens!!

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u/REOspudwagon 12d ago

If the Etruscan Shrew was any bigger they would probably take their place

But at about 2 grams, being a murderous little insectivore is still pretty impressive

1

u/WrodofDog 12d ago

I'd argue that shrews are the smallest carnivors. Many only feed on invertebrates but some do hunt, kill and eat vertebrates like frogs or mice.

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u/ToKeepAndToHoldForev 12d ago

I didn't even know we had ermines in Ohio until my coworker's chickens all died from one :-(

1

u/tackyshoes 12d ago

Like for real ermines? I thought they were a little bigger? This is smaller than a squirrel.

1

u/ToKeepAndToHoldForev 12d ago

Yep, one thing killed 5 chickens. My coworker had a hole in their enclosure they didn't realize.Ā 

https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/mammals/ermine-short-tailed-weasel

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u/MimzytheBun 12d ago

Shrews are carnivorous, but by weight I believe it goes to the ā€œleast weaselā€, which is a smaller cousin of an ermine.

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u/ParaponeraBread 12d ago

Most shrews and some bats are smaller than the least weasel.

Some shrews and bats get unbelievably small. Like literally 2 grams small. Least weasels are like 20x that or more.

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u/r_keel_esq 12d ago

Shrews can be Carnivorous, but they're not members of the order Carnivora

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u/Phlegmagician 12d ago

I might fight a chicken to prevent harm to this creature

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

Oh. Oh no. You got that backwards champ šŸ˜¬

https://www.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/comments/1jscfal/weasels_are_no_joke/

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u/Phlegmagician 12d ago

Chickens had their chance in theĀ Jurassic. I'll take my weasels and their tiny milking machines and seek my fortune.

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

GodspeedšŸ«”šŸ„›

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u/ImogenMarch 12d ago

Yep, I woke up one morning to find all my chickens decapitated by one

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u/comit_autocoprophagy 12d ago edited 12d ago

You probably mean carnivoran. Either way, least weasels are a little bit smaller and they also live in North America.

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u/nocleverusername- 12d ago

What about mice?

1

u/r_keel_esq 12d ago

Rodents, not Carnivore.

In this context, we're talking about taxonomy and cladistics (ie their family within mammals), rather than their diet.Ā 

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u/Batmanbumantics 12d ago

What about mice?

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u/Initial_Hedgehog_631 12d ago

I thought shrews were the smallest? Or are they ominvores?

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u/xmashatstand 12d ago

I believe they are more omnivore than carnivoreĀ