Tuesday, 24 November 2020

A mink on OtterCam

This is not something we want to see.  The camera in the culvert recorded this animal three times on the same day.  It is an American mink (Neovison vison), a non-native invasive species.




It is smaller than an otter and has a ferret-shaped face and pale ear margins.  Notice how it swims fairly high in the water compared with an otter, and swims with a "doggy paddle" with its tail out of the water.

The American mink is universally unwelcome and is a menace to our native wildlife.  These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't been seen since.  I suspect it was passing through and moved on when it didn't detect the scent of a possible mate and perhaps because it did detect the scent of otters.

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