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| The Mink is sleek-bodied, with shiny chocolate-brown to black fur and white spotting on the chin and throat. Minks are about one-third larger than the Long-tailed Weasel. Their tail is long and somewhat bushy. Male Minks are larger than females. They are usually found along rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds, and marshes. Minks are able to dive to a depth of more than 5 metres. They are accomplished swimmers and spend much of their time hunting in ponds and streams. Minks hunt equally on both land and water and, therefore, have the best of two worlds. They adapt their hunting time to prey availability and therefore are often out at night. The Mink marks its hunting territory with a foul discharge from its anal glands, which smells as foul as a skunk’s, although it is not as strong a scent. The range of a male Mink encompasses those of several females. While the Mink prefers to prey upon the Common Muskrat, it also hunts rabbits, mice, chipmunks, fish, crayfish, snakes, frogs, young snapping turtles, and marsh-dwelling birds. Like weasels, the Mink kills by biting its victims on the neck. The Mink dens in a muskrat burrow, a beaver den, a hollow log, cave, or digs its own den in a stream bank, where they bear their young, usually four to six pups. All dens are temporary, as the Mink moves frequently, sometimes traveling long distances over land. In winter they swim under the ice and quite often slide down hills much like the Otter. |
(Family Mustelidae)
American Mink (Mustela vison)
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