Mink

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 I am cheating again because this sighting was off our patch along the canal side in Skipton an hour and a bit drive away from us - but I have seen mink in previous years  whilst fishing on the River Eden near us so it seems  legitimate

There are two kinds of mink - the European mink and the American mink. It appears that European mink never made it to Britain and the mink we see are the American mink. Mink are not native to Britain but were introduced into fur farms in the 1920s and as a result of escapes and deliberate releases were first recorded breeding in the wild in the 1950s and are now present in most watercourses in the UK. There were some notorious mass releases by animal rights activists in the 1960's who were protesting about the cruel conditions on fur farms. I remember in the 1950s that all my elderly female relatives had mink stoles or coats for special occasions. Thankfully this has fallen out of fashion.


American mink have had a devastating effect on native wildlife. Water voles used to be commonplace but have been  wiped out in most areas by invasive mink. Mink also hunt in the nest burrows of kingfishers having an effect on them too. The only good news is that otter numbers are increasing as water purity improves and it appears that otters attack  mink and displace them. I had seen mink in daylight  along this pontoon (too excited to get my phone out to photograph it) and I was delighted that the camera trap had come up with the goods. At one stage there were energetic attempts to rid the country of mink but they seem to have been accepted as a part of the landscape these days apart from in areas where there is game fishing where gamekeepers trap them. There is not, and has never been (as far as I can see) an official government policy on what to do about invasive mink.
I have now blogged about all the mustelids found in Britain apart from the pine marten. I used to see these regularly when I lived in the Highlands of Scotland, and they are now well established in Wales and the Scottish Borders so I live in hope that we may get them around here one day.

Diary
I had to watch 186 ten second clips of rabbits on my trail cameras to find one clip of a badger from last night.
Temperatures around 10C and overcast.




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