Weasels!

We always said that a weasel killed our chickens, and now we have proof that they live on the property. On Saturday, I was leading a birthday hike focusing on slithery, slimy creatures. We were down by the stream, and I had the children go into the dry stream bed to turn over rocks and logs to see what was under them, when a parent told me there was a "dead thing" up the hill. Of course I immediately went to check it out! It was the size of a squirrel with a long furry black tail, but not as bushy as a squirrels. I tried to get the skull (with my bare hands - which the kids loved!) to take it back to the center, but the darn thing just was not participating. I told the children that it was OK and I would get it later. There was plenty of things to capture their attention - I had them suck on some spice bush, dye their hands with some walnuts, a dad passed out some wild grapes, and we checked out a box turtle that was crossing the path!

Today, as I was retelling the story, one of the staff members decided to go get the carcass for me (I have a horrible chest cold). She brought it back to the center - and it is definetly a Weasel! We will try to preserve the skull and tail. So come on over, take a hike, you never know what you are going to discover!