Where to find wild mink

Female mink reach their adult weight by the fall of their first year. Mink are primarily nocturnal with most activity spent feeding. Their list of prey species is varied. Food items include small mammals, fish, birds and amphibians. Mammals such as muskrats, rabbits and small rodents lead the list as the most important food for mink.

Waterfowl, small marsh-nesting birds, and crayfish also are important summer foods, while fish are a common food item of mink during the winter months. Mink are very active and curious creatures. Their presence is seen easily along streams and creeks the day after a light snow.

Their characteristic loping gait leaves double print or paired tracks. Tracks often show how they travel from one stream bank to the other, investigating nearly every hole, crack, crevice and overhang that may hide a potential meal. Mink are equally at home in water or on land. It often is possible to find areas along a stream where they have come up through a hole in the ice to begin their foraging activities along the stream.

Unlike many small mammals, mink generally are not preyed on by larger predators. They occasionally fall victim to red and gray fox, bobcat, or great horned owls. While mink are hosts for parasites such as mites, fleas and lice, these do not cause significant mortality in mink populations.

Diseases such as salmonella, distemper and tularemia have been diagnosed in ranch mink, but are not believed to be a serious mortality factor of wild mink populations.

Environmental contaminants are known to affect captive mink. So as yet there is no official national strategy for managing mink, although the main interest groups — under the leadership of the GWCT - are collaborating to create one.

So as yet there is no official national strategy for managing mink. Some very large regional projects have developed in Britain and in other European countries, following a variety of different models for resourcing the work. Almost all now use the GWCT mink raft as a standard tool.

Projects that depend heavily on external funding during the early stages inevitably run into a funding crisis later on. Arguably the most sustainable model is one where the resources come from within the region itself, e.

For more information, see our Privacy Policy. Our website uses cookies to provide you with a better online experience. If you continue to use our site without changing your browser settings, we'll assume you are happy to receive cookies. Please read our cookie policy for more information. Mink may line the interior of their home with dried grass and leaves, as well as with the fur from past prey. Mink communicate using odors, visual signals, and sounds. They are fairly quiet, but rely heavily on odors for communicating territorial boundaries and for finding mates.

The diet of mink varies with the season. During the summer they eat crayfish and small frogs , along with small mammals such as shrews , rabbits , mice , and muskrats. Fish , ducks and other water fowl provide additional food choices. In the winter, they mostly prey on mammals. Mink have few natural enemies.

They are occasionally killed by coyotes , bobcats and other carnivores , but their main threat remains humans. Mink, like most members of the weasel family , are aggressive and fearless predators. They do not hesitate to defend themselves against animals larger than themselves.

Mink may be occasionally taken by birds of prey , or young in a nest may be taken by snakes , but they are agile, secretive in nature, and they blend in with their background, so they can avoid most predators.

Mink are important predators of small mammals throughout their range. The only negative affects that mink might have is the possible competition between mink and humans for water fowl or other game species.

Mink pelts have for years been considered one of the most luxurious furs on the market. Originally all fur came from wild mink, causing a severe strain on the species.

However, starting in the mid s, mink ranches were set up to help bring a more constant pelt supply to the market. Ranching was very successful, with the number of mink ranches in the United States reaching a high of during the mids. While the number of ranches has declined nationally to , a total of 2.

The quality of a pelt, which affects the price, is determined by its size, color, texture and density. The biggest threat towards mink survival is the continued existence of the fur market. Forty-seven states and all Canadian provinces now have limited trapping seasons on mink, with the length of the season varying from area to area. According to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust GWCT , animal rights activists did carry out deliberate releases of mink in the s, but they are not to blame for the species become established in the wild; it was accidental escapes from farms in the s and s that seeded the wild population.

Mink farming was banned by the Fur Farming Prohibition Act , though there were very few farms operating by then. Once mink are introduced to a region they spread naturally, having a strong capacity for colonisation and the ability to easily cross waterbodies, including sea channels. Mink can have significant adverse effects once established, predominantly through predation and competition. They can devastate entire populations of ground-nesting birds and have had a detrimental impact on the water vole Arvicola amphibius.

Unless some areas are kept relatively or entirely free of mink, it is thought that the water vole will become extinct in much of Britain within a few years. Sign up to receive our newsletter! You're now subscribed to our newsletter. Already have an account with us? Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. By entering your details, you are agreeing to Countryfile.