# Why do weasels have a bad reputation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277 "2015-05-04T22:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/41 "2015-05-05T20:36:36Z")
Well, Mr. Armstrong had fun with the mix-up. He seems rather an odd bird. For some reason all his papers are in the custody of **[Brigham Young University](http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS1510.xml)**. Whilst this harks back to the great days of American Universities — quite generously — trousering the entire papers of ‘Great Authors’, I hope in this case they didn’t get his soul as well. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/42 "2015-05-05T23:11:52Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > [Needs a visual.](http://leskeud.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ZPCD112.jpg) My phone wallpaper. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/43 "2015-05-05T23:22:09Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Hey, get your own tagline…🙂 Mine looks better. Its not all fancied up with quotes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/44 "2015-05-06T12:06:07Z")
A weasel can do what it wants to do and that’s what it’s gonna do. It doesn’t care about its bad reputation. Oh, no. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/45 "2015-05-06T12:19:49Z")
Weasels mainly get their bad reputation from the ones in congress. ---
**Author:** ![bbillybbobb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@bbillybbobb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbillybbobb)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/46 "2015-05-06T15:30:25Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Weasels Ripped My Flesh!:rolleyes: zappa and the mothers of invention… too many years ago ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/47 "2015-05-06T17:57:54Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > But he [stuffs the ferrets](http://nypost.com/2014/05/31/the-man-who-puts-vicious-ferrets-down-his-pants-for-hours/) into his pants for fun and profit, so I don’t know if he’s giving the critters a proper opportunity to be anything other then ill-tempered and sullen. > > ETA: ever-so-slightly ninja’d by **Claverhouse** Ferret legging was the subject of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=199077) back in 2003. In a [long post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3733375&postcount=13), I concluded that all reports of it then could be traced back to this Donald Katz article from 1983 (which was only partially available online at the time) and that everything else was basically urban legend garbled retellings of it, usually implying a more recent date. I concluded: > [@](#): > > It really wouldn’t surprise me if Yorkshiremen do regularly store their ferrets in their trousers. The question has to be whether they have ever done so other than in the presence of foreign journalists and southern TV crews. And competitively, at that. This mention’s however prompted me to have another dig, largely to see what’s changed since 2003. One big change is that Katz’s full article is now online, either at **gnoitall** ’s link or [at _Outside_ magazine itself](http://www.outsideonline.com/1902036/king-ferret-leggers). (They did a [follow-up article](http://www.outsideonline.com/1902046/consider-wild-animal-down-your-pants) in 2012, but that doesn’t really help.) Another is that there was no Wikipedia article on the subject back then, but [there is now](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret-legging). This is, however, a classic example of Wikipedia contributors being a bit credulous, but it gets interesting if you follow the links to the original sources. For I think we can offer a speculative reconstruction of the story before Katz in 1983. The earliest reference to Reg Mellor seems to be an appearance in a 1976 Yorkshire TV documentary [_It’s No Joke Living in Barnsley_](http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b72fe8be0). This appears to have been online at some point, but not any more. Presented by Brian Glover, it was evidently a one-off collection of human interest stories about people living in the town. He appears to have interviewed Mellor as one of these and got a brief demonstration of him shoving a ferret down his trousers. The documentary is mentioned in a _Times_ news article by Ronald Kershaw on 31st December 1980. (_The Times_ has all its past content back to 1785 online, but behind a paywall.) This gives a vague account of “the ancient sport of ferret-legging”. In the vein of “It is reasonable to assume that ferret-legging has been in existence since the creatures were discovered to be the swiftest and most silent way of securing for the pot one of the local squire’s rabbits.” This is all intro to the second half of the story that has the news hook that Mellor claims a (non-Guinness recognised) world record of just over five hours and has publically bet £100 against anybody else who thinks they can beat this. There’s evidently no organised championships, because this is something Mellor claims to want to organise in future. There’s also no suggestion that the beast spent the five hours clamped to his genitals either, but this is the pre-Murdoch _Times_. Frankly, the whole article smacks of Kershaw getting a nice wee story by just credulously repeating Mellor’s own PR. There then [this article](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dvgSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MfsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5791,3042201&dq=ferret-legging&hl=en) from a Florida newspaper in September 1981 about how he’s planning to come out of retirement for one last, umm, bout. His record’s now 5 hours and 26 minutes and we get the story of the stage being dismantled, but there’s no suggestion that there were any other competitors. While I doubt _The Lakeland Ledger_ spoke to him themselves, Mellor is again the only source quoted in the article. The key missing link to Katz is another _Times_ article, this time from 31st March 1983. Called “Hob and Jill make a comeback”, it’s by Geoffrey Wansall in a column titled “Modern Times: A sideways look at the British way of life”. A general discussion of ferrets, it includes a paragraph on Mellor, who’s now “the acknowledged world champion” and we again get the story about the stage being dismantled as he sets a record of 5 hours and 26 minutes. From the details, it’s pretty clear that Katz saw this article, recognised a possible longer story and set out to Barnsley to track down Mellor. I haven’t looked more widely, but I suspect the underlying pattern is that in the period 1976-83 one man was claiming to journalists or film crews that there was an ancient sport of ferret legging and that he was its record breaking champion. None of these reporters actually saw him do anything more than put a tame ferret or two briefly into his trousers. Katz’s story then went viral with the spread of the internet and everybody since has been spreading mutations of it. Wikipedia does note attempts to “revive the sport” in recent decades. But much of that is along the lines of “well, we’ll host the event if we can find any volunteers”. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/48 "2015-05-06T19:22:53Z")
If Mr. Mellor was born in 1911, as the original article says, then I am prepared to offer long odds he is no longer performing this sport. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/49 "2015-05-06T19:37:46Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Mine looks better. Its not all fancied up with quotes. 🙂 They’re not quotes they’re weasel claw marks…😛 ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/50 "2015-05-06T23:09:38Z")
Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals. Except the weasel. – Homer Simpson ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/51 "2015-05-07T00:01:55Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > They’re not quotes they’re weasel claw marks…😛 Oh…after that latest competition you should see what the little bastards did to my “balls”. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/52 "2015-05-07T13:19:05Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Here is a cite for the reason poultry farmers hate weasels so much: > > “Weasels are known to be very cunning. Their cleverness and guile makes them first class predators, and their prey is often no match to their agility. Chickens with the back of their necks and heads missing, with its intestines out and bitten at the rear are most likely victims of this wily animal. What’s interesting is that weasels kill not only for food, but also for sport. In fact, they are known to keep killing until there is nothing left to kill. Due to its slender body, these animals can easily wiggle through chicken wires, small runways, and narrow holes—making them the bane of poultry owners.” > > [Weasel - Chicken Predators - How To Protect Your Chickens From Weasels | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens](http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/weasel-chicken-predators-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-weasels) > > Of course, the weasel thinks all of this is a great sport. I think you can see why there are two very different sides to the opinion. Their close cousins, the mongoose and ferret have much better PR firms representing them. People have been keeping chickens for a very long time. If weasels attack chickens, it’s not too surprising that they might get a bad reputation among poultry farmers. If it’s hard to keep weasels out of your chicken coop, it’s not difficult to see how they might get a reputation for being sly and cunning. Ferrets have also been domesticated for a long time. They were useful for hunting rabbits and rodents. That usefulness probably helped their reputation, even if they might sometimes attack chickens. In England, [a law was passed in 1390 limiting the use of hunting ferrets to the relatively wealthy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret#Ferreting). Being associated with wealthy people doesn’t hurt the reputation of most domestic animals. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/53 "2015-05-07T13:41:11Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > They are quite adept at escaping from pursuing monkeys. Especially when said pursuit happens around the workbench of a shoemaker. I believe I have told this one before, in some other context, but … Weasels really do go “pop.” A friend claimed there was a ferret in his yard, up in a tree, and wanted to catch it. I grabbed a dip net and a ladder and went to do so. When I got there, I identified it as a weasel, but decided to proceed anyway. :dubious: I actually managed to net the weasel, whereupon it emitted a “pop” noise and a cloud of noxious fumes. :eek: The weasel, my friend, and I all fled the area in radial directions. So it escaped not one, but two primates. I had forgotten that the skunk is a member of the weasel family, or perhaps more accurately, the weasel is a member of the skunk family. :smack: Since that time, I have observed a number of weasels in the wild, but have maintained a strict policy of non-interferance. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/54 "2015-05-07T14:38:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I had forgotten that the skunk is a member of the weasel family, or perhaps more accurately, the weasel is a member of the skunk family. To be [del]pedantic[/del] taxonomic about it, skunks used to be considered mustelids, but are now in a separate family, Mephitidae: > **[Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers)](http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mephitidae/)** > > Read about Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers) on the Animal Diversity Web. > **[Mustelidae (badgers, otters, weasels, and relatives)](http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mustelidae/)** > > Read about Mustelidae (badgers, otters, weasels, and relatives) on the Animal Diversity Web. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/55 "2015-05-14T16:52:42Z")
> [@wisernow](#): > > [They fly!](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150303-weasels-woodpeckers-animals-science-weaselpecker-photos/) Also watch [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL9c7418ZgU). Explains how good at hunting weasels are. > [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Have you ever met a ferret? > > (Yes, I know, according to the official scientific taxonomy they are not that closely related to weasels. But to a casual observer they are similar). They are from the same family, Mustelids. Here’s wikipedia on “[weasel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel)”. > [@](#): > > The English word “weasel” was originally applied to one species of the genus, the European form of the least weasel (Mustela nivalis). This usage is retained in British English, where the name is also extended to cover several other small species of the genus. However, in technical discourse and in American usage, the term “weasel” can refer to any member of the genus, or to the genus as a whole. Of the 17 extant species currently classified in the genus Mustela, ten have “weasel” in their common names. Among those that do not are the stoat, the polecats, the ferret, and the European mink. (The superficially similar American mink is now regarded as belonging in another genus, Neovison.) So, according to American and technical usage, ferrets _are_ weasels. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > They’re still glad an ocean separates them from the honey badgers Honey badgers and wolverines are from the same family, Mustelidae. They are different subfamilies, but essentially they are weasels - giant weasels. Both are large, predatory, and known to chase larger predators away from their kills - honey badgers with lions, wolverines with bears. Both are ferocious when confronted. Honey badgers have the pop press cycle on their side, but wolverines are typically larger. Adult male wolverines can be twice the weight (71 lbs for wolverines, versus 35 lbs for honey badgers). I’d say neither would like the other, but wolverines would be the more likely winner of any confrontation. Also, wolverines live in northern Asia (Siberia) as well as America, so it’s not an ocean between them, just large expanse of continent (honey badgers have made it into Asia). > [@MrDibble](#): > > What, the mustelid that [rapes baby seals _to death_](http://news.discovery.com/animals/the-other-side-of-otters.htm)\* and then keeps the corpse around for days for necrophiliac purposes? _Those_ otters? Not so pleasantly, no. First I’ve heard of that. It hasn’t made it to their popular reputation yet, so yes, sea otters have a cute and cuddly image without the stygma of mass murder of chickens and other poultry, or rabbits for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/56 "2015-05-14T20:20:43Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Oh…after that latest competition you should see what the little bastards did to my “balls”. Well, you know that old saying about weasels and balls, " When weasels do cavort with balls, a good time will be had by most…" It is possible I may have made that up… ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/57 "2015-05-14T23:20:03Z")
“A weasel looks like a hotdog with legs” said a guy who kept bluebird houses and was occasionally plagued by weasels. So maybe it’s the confusion between predatory animals and junk food that is the problem. Also, concerning basilisks and other animals, I once tried to write a message about my cockatiels and the spell-check on windows insisted that there was no such thing as a cockatiel, instead I had cockatrices. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/58 "2015-05-14T23:49:37Z")
Quite cheap to care and **[feed](http://wherwellrescue.tumblr.com/)**, but I would advise some dark shades when petting. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/59 "2015-05-15T22:08:34Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Have you ever met a ferret? No, but, I can tell you anyhow I’d rather see than be one. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277/60 "2015-05-17T00:10:16Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So, according to American and technical usage, ferrets _are_ weasels. And weasels are weasely distinguishable from stoats, which are stoataly different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-weasels-have-a-bad-reputation/719277.md?page=4)