Furry Beast Ident

[Normcar]

I went out to one of my bird spots and saw this guy staring at me from across the waterthrough the branches. This is a weasel, isn't it? What a cool animal, I'm impressed with his yellow-brown tones; wish I could have gotten a better shot before he took off.

[Eric CAN]

Neat neat Norm, never seen one in the wild, good catch indeed

Cheers

[Normcar]

Thanks Eric...it "is" a weasel, isn't it? I'm honestly not positive.

[geoffs]

Boy, he is beautiful Norm! It is definitely a weasel and they are elusive and hard to see in the wild. I've seen them in winter but never in summer.

This one is either a Least Weasel or a Short-Tailed Weasel. Did you see it's tail? Was it longer and black at the tip? If shorter with no black on tip, it was a Least Weasel.

[Normcar]

Ack, I missed the tail shot, and I had a chance at it too, but I decided to attach the teleconverter and was doing so when the guy bolted. Thanks for identing it for me. I knew that this guy was a bit of a catch. I sit in this place quietly, without moving as much as I can, and saw this guy poke his head out. Honest, I'm not trying to sell the FZ10 to anyone, but, had I not had that light camera that could immediately be pointed and focused,I wouldn't have had a chance with this shot. Encouraging to hear that it's a difficult catch.

[geoffs]

Well, you did indeed capture a difficult subject and I don't think it was just because you had the FZ10. If you hadn't been willing to sit quietly and be patient you'd have never seen this guy - he would have heard you and kept out of sight.

If you don't watch it, you're going to be so quiet that you might end up having a little encounter with a bear :-)

[Normcar]

I don't like bears. Guaranteed, I wouldn't be so quiet in bear country unless armed to the teeth, and not with a camera. Is it a phobia? Ahh, yep.

[geoffs]

I have that same phobia, Norm. Nevertheless, when I used to hike in grizzly territory in Montana I never did carry the .44 magnum that perhaps I should have. Besides, there's a high likelihood that in any dangerous encounter with a bear, you'd not have the opportunity to use the weapon on it anyway. I did used to have bear bells on my backpack to ensure that I made enough noise that the bears knew I was there and I never had any run-ins, knock on wood... :-)

These days, I'm somewhat more fearful of the other humans I might meet on the trail rather than the bears - there are some really wierd people out there!

[Normcar]

Bells or Magnums? To protect against carnivores or perverts?

I would take the Magnum as it would reduce, substantially, the bear threat and completely end the pervert threat. I just keep seeing this guy on a bicycle, with bear bells all over his bike, and horns, bleeping his horn and bells ringing as the bike rushes around the mountain path, hitting little rocks and ringing as it goes, as the bear rushes closer and closer, claws reaching and fur bristling. Then I say to myself...do I want that for myself or would I rather be "really" confident in my protection.

Now where was that magnum?

In summary: give me an anti-aircraft gun or a howitzer and I'll go where the bears are, with confidence. And I promise to use this weaponry "only" if necessary.

[aladyforty]

I thought it was a ferret. Good shot though.