Mink
Mink Facts
Identification
The mink (Mustela vison) is a
member of the weasel family. It is
about 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm) in
length, including the somewhat bushy
5- to 7-inch (13- to 18-cm) tail, and
weighs 1 1/2 to 3 pounds (0.7 to 1.4
kg). Females are about three-fourths
the size of males. Both sexes are a rich
chocolate-brown color, usually with a
white patch on the chest or chin and
scattered white patches on the belly.
The fur is relatively short with the coat
consisting of a soft, dense underfur
concealed by glossy, lustrous guard
hairs. Mink also have anal musk
glands common to the weasel family
and can discharge a disagreeable musk
if frightened or disturbed. Unlike
skunks, however, they cannot forcibly
spray musk.
Damage Prevention and
Control Methods
Exclusion
Exclusion usually is the best solution
to mink predation on domestic
animals. Confine animals in fenced
areas. Seal all openings larger than 1
inch (2.5 cm).
Habitat Modification
Generally not feasible
Frightening
No methods are effective.
Toxicants, Fumigants, Repellents
None are registered.
Trapping
Mink can be captured most easily in
leghold or Conibear®-type traps,
but live traps may work around
farmsteads.
Shooting
May not be legal.
Normally difficult and impractical.
PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF WILDLIFE DAMAGE
Range and Habitat
Mink are found throughout North
America, with the exception of the desert
southwest and tundra areas (Fig. 2).
Mink are shoreline dwellers and their
one basic habitat requirement is a suitable
permanent water area. This may
be a stream, river, pond, marsh,
swamp, or lake. Waters with good
populations of fish, frogs, and aquatic
invertebrates and with brushy or
grassy ungrazed shorelines provide
the best mink habitat. Mink use many
den sites in the course of their travels
and the availability of adequate den
sites is a very important habitat consideration.
These may be muskrat
houses, bank burrows, holes, crevices,
log jams, or abandoned beaver lodges.
Food Habits
The mink is strictly carnivorous.
Because of its semiaquatic habits, it
obtains about as much food on land as
in water. Mink are opportunistic feeders
with a diet that includes mice and
rats, frogs, fish, rabbits, crayfish,
muskrats, insects, birds, and eggs.
General Biology,
Reproduction, and
Behavior
Mink are polygamous and males may
fight ferociously for mates during the
breeding season, which occurs from
late January to late March. Gestation
varies from 40 to 75 days with an average
of 51 days. Like most other members
of the weasel family, mink exhibit
delayed implantation; the embryos do
not implant and begin completing their
development until approximately 30
days before birth. The single annual litter
of about 3 to 6 young is born in late
April or early May and their eyes open
at about 3 weeks of age. The young are
born in a den which may be a bank
burrow, a muskrat house, a hole under
a log, or a rock crevice. The mink family
stays together until late summer
when the young disperse. Mink
become sexually mature at about 10
months of age.
Legal Status
Mink are protected furbearers in most
states, with seasons established for taking
them when their fur is prime. Most
states, however, have provisions for
landowners to control furbearers
which are damaging their property at
anytime of the year. Check with your
state wildlife agency before using any
lethal controls.
Damage Prevention and
Control Methods
Mink damage usually is localized. If
needed, lethal controls can be directed
at the individual mink causing the
damage.
Exclusion
Usually the best solution to mink predation
on domestic animals is to physically
exclude their entry, sealing all
openings larger than 1 inch (2.5 cm)
with wood or tin and by using 1-inch
(2.5-cm) mesh poultry netting around
chicken yards and over ventilation
openings. Mink do not gnaw like
rodents, but they are able to use burrows
or gnawed openings made by
rats.
Habitat Modification
Habitat modification generally is not a
feasible means of reducing mink predation
problems on farms. If the objective
is to increase natural production
of upland nesting wild birds, however,
habitat modification may be applicable.
The best method of increasing
upland nesting success is usually to
increase the size and quality of cover
areas such as grasslands, legumes, or
set-aside areas. Although increasing
the density of nesting cover may
reduce nest predation by mink, it
could lead to an increase in nest predation
by species which favor dense
cover, such as the Franklin ground
squirrel. Because mink frequently use
multiple den sites, elimination of
potential denning areas may reduce
their densities.
Mink are active mainly at night and
are active year-round, except for brief
intervals during periods of low temperature
or heavy snow. Then they
may hole up in a den for a day or
more. Male mink have large home
ranges and travel widely, sometimes
covering many miles (km) of shoreline.
Females have smaller ranges and tend
to be relatively sedentary during the
breeding season.
Damage and Damage
Identification
Mink may occasionally kill domestic
poultry around farms. They typically
kill their prey by biting them through
the skull or neck. Closely spaced pairs
of canine tooth marks are sign of a
mink kill.
Mink will attack animals up to the size
of a chicken, duck, rabbit, or muskrat.
While eating muskrats, a mink will
often make an opening in the back or
side of the neck and skin the animal by
pulling the head and body through the
hole as it feeds. Like some other members
of the weasel family, mink occasionally
exhibit “surplus killing”
behavior (killing much more than they
can possibly eat) when presented with
an abundance of food, such as in a
poultry house full of chickens. Mink
may place many dead chickens neatly
in a pile. Mink can eat significant numbers
of upland nesting waterfowl or
game bird young, particularly in areas
where nesting habitat is limited.
Frightening
There are no known frightening
devices that are effective for deterring
mink predation.
Repellents, Toxicants, and
Fumigants
There are no repellents, toxicants, or
fumigants registered for mink damage
control.
Trapping
Mink can most easily be captured in
leghold traps (No. 11 double longspring
or No. 1 1/2 coilspring) or in
Conibear®-type body-gripping traps
equivalent to No. 120 traps. Mink are
suspicious of new objects and are
difficult to capture in live traps. Singledoor
live traps may be effective if
baited and placed in dirt banks or rock
walls. Double-door live traps can be
effective in runways, particularly if the
trap doors are wired open and the trap
is left in place for some time before
activating the trap. Live traps may also
be effective around farmyards because
mink are more accustomed to encountering
human-made objects in those
areas.
“Blind sets” are very effective for mink
if suitable locations can be found.
These sets do not require bait or lures
and are placed in areas along mink
travel lanes where the animals are
forced to travel in restricted areas. Good sites for blind sets include
small culverts, tiles, narrow springs,
muskrat runs, and areas under overhanging
banks or under the roots of
streamside trees. If necessary,
the opening can be restricted with the
use of a few sticks or grass to direct the
mink over the trap.
Another good mink set is the “pocket
set” using bait . This set is made
by digging a 3-inch (7.6-cm) diameter
hole horizontally back into a bank at
the water level. The bottom of the hole
should contain about 2 inches (5 cm) of
water, and it should extend back at
least 10 inches (25 cm) into the bank.
Place a bait (fresh fish, muskrat
carcass, or frog) in the back of the hole
above water level and place the trap
underwater at the opening of the hole.
Traps should be solidly staked and
connected to a drowning wire leading
to deep water.
Use live traps around a farmyard if
there is a high likelihood of catching
pets. Otherwise, leghold or Conibear®
traps can be used with or without bait
in runs or holes used by mink.
Shooting
Some states may have restrictions on
shooting mink, although many will
make exceptions in damage situations.
If a mink is raiding poultry and can be
caught in the act, shooting the animal
is a quick way to solve the problem.
Normally, though, it is difficult to
shoot mink because of their nocturnal
habits.
Economics of Damage
and Control
Although an individual incident of
mink predation can be costly, overall
the problem is not very significant to
agriculture. Mink damage control on a
case-by-case basis generally can be justified
from a cost/benefit standpoint,
but large-scale control programs are
neither necessary nor desirable. Exclusion
procedures may or may not be
economically justifiable, depending on
the severity of the problem and the
amount of repairs needed. Normally,
such costs can be justified for a recurring
problem when amortized over the
life of the exclusion structures. Usually
damage from other predators and
rodents is reduced as well.
Mink are important semiaquatic carnivores
in wetland wildlife communities,
and are also valuable as a fur resource.
About 400,000 to 700,000 wild mink
are harvested each year throughout
North America, for an annual income
exceeding $5 million. Therefore, all
lethal control should be limited to specific
instances of documented damage.
*The above information was taken from a University of Nebraska Web site with
express permission of Stephen Vatassel, wildlife damage project coordinator.
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