Mink

This morning, out by the woodpile there was an animal that looked like a chocolate brown ferret. It was a mink!

Some facts about mink:

• Family: Mustelidae, Weasels
• Description: Sleek-bodied, with lustrous chocolate- brown to black fur. Tail long, somewhat bushy and up to 50% of body length.
• Habitat: Swamps, marshes & bogs, Lakes, ponds, rivers & streams, Forests & woodlands
• The American mink is a carnivorous animal, which feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, amphibians and birds. It kills vertebrate prey by biting the back of the head or neck, leaving canine puncture marks 9-11 mm apart. It is a formidable predator of muskrats, which are chased underwater and killed in their own burrows
• Mink tracks: