The Barn by Ralph Hagen for January 10, 2010

I think your snow-do is freaking them out, Rory.

I wonder what the squeak was for! Doesn’t look good.

POP!—goes the weasel.

Hungry snow weasel!

Got it in one, grazer!

lunch served.

Alas… One less mouse to eat from the grain barrels in the barn. Hurray!

“Also known as a Shorttail Weasel and less frequently as an ermelin.” Hey Joe thanks for the info. I googled it and found this too.

My wife and I were having a pleasant drive in the country yesterday when a mouse popped out onto the windshield from under the hood. Over the course of about five minutes we would see him pop in and out of sight until finally he tried to crawl off to the side window and suddenly there was one less mouse in this world.

Well, that is one solution to the rodent invasion.

That’s either a very large mouse or a very small predator-of-undetermined-identity. I’d call it even and bet either way.

That first rat (the brown one) almost looks like the one from “Pearls Before Swine.”

If you go with “Least Weasel” we’re talking mouse-sized predator.

http://www.wildlifenorthamerica.com/Mammal/Least-Weasel/Mustela/nivalis.html

I agree with comixavier - looks like Pearl’s Rat - only wrong color.

Rat’s cousin Benny. Crazy Benny.

Weasels, martens, ferrets, mongeese, minks, ermines, sables, wolverines and fishers all belong to the order

mustelidae

We are lookin at mustela erminidae pursuing a Crazy Benny.

If that makes sense, you are as insane as I am.

I think it stands agreed that the predator is ‘sposed to be an ermine/winter weasel….but, if so, where’s the famous black tip on the end of it’s tail??

I have a painting of a ermine in a snow storm on my wall. It looks something like this…..

Ermine chasing mouse:

~ > ^;> __ ( )^*>

Or maybe it’s just a cartoon…..?

I’m shocked no one has mentioned a stoat.

Stoats are found much farther north than this cartoon seems to be set, and they are normally called stoats during their brown stage. Joe knew that.