Military airfield successfully relocates weasels and stoats
By the end of the year, weasels are to be settled at the Meiringen military airfield. The four-legged “field police” have the task of keeping the mouse population in check.
The smaller the mouse population, the fewer birds of prey circle above the airfield. «For flight safety, birds of prey must be kept away from the runway,» the airfield authorities state in the latest «Airfield News».
«The aim is to deprive the birds of prey of their food supply», Hanspeter Wyss is quoted in the «Berner Oberländer». He is responsible for environmental matters at the airfield command. Given the positive experiences at other military airfields, Meiringen also decided in favour of weasels.
A few years ago, those responsible for the military airfield tried using a professional mouser. Weasels may not catch quite as many mice as quickly, but unlike a mouser, they are always there.
Studies in 2016 showed that weasels already live at the airfield. Stone piles in which they can hide are now intended to encourage more weasels to move onto the airfield grounds.
«A weasel family eats 50 to 100 mice per week»
