And my first decent photos of one, ever.
First a little of my history with American Mink. It ain’t pretty.
Way back in May of 2009 I was photographing birds from my vehicle (a small Toyota Matrix back then, usually my vehicle is a full sized Ford pickup) near a bridge at Farmington Bay WMA when I spotted a Mink through my windshield and very close to me. I couldn’t shoot through my windshield of course so I backed up a few feet to give me room to turn sharply to my right and photograph the mink through my driver’s side window. I’d never seen a wild Mink in my life, much less photographed one, so in all the excitement I wasn’t as careful as I should have been when I backed up.
Crunch! I backed into a cement-filled steel post. Because of the design of the Matrix and the slope I’d been parked on there was no damage to my bumper but I put a big dent below the rear window of my little hatchback. I immediately knew what I’d done but I still tried to get photos of that Mink and I’d face the consequences later.
This crappy photo and one other almost exactly like it is all I got for my troubles and my hurt pride. I had time to get those two shots that had gobs of out of focus dried vegetation between me and the Mink and then the little rascal was gone. I kept both of the photos but swore that neither of them would ever see the light of day. I’ve kept that promise to myself for 12 years but yesterday’s events prompted me to retrieve them from the mothballs.
In subsequent years I’ve been aching to get some decent photos of a Mink but it just hasn’t happened. I may or may not have had a very brief glimpse of one a time or two but those encounters were so brief I could never be sure of what I’d really seen. And I sure as hell never got any photos. Until yesterday.
Yesterday morning I was having pretty good luck photographing birds along a mountain stream when a Mink that I had no idea was in the area successfully ambushed a Spotted Sandpiper quite a ways downstream from me. I couldn’t believe it! The screams of the sandpiper (no other word but “screams” seems appropriate) were pitiful and not particularly brief. From my vantage point I had no real chance to get photos so I drove forward to get closer but by then the drama was over and all the participants had disappeared. So I went back to photographing birds.
Within a few minutes I spotted two Mink scampering through the grass from my right to my left on the far side of the stream. I raised my lens but they disappeared before I could get them in my viewfinder. Striking out twice in such a short time was heartbreaking but all I could do was go back to photographing birds. I kept my eye open for more Mink but had very little hope.
And then it happened.
A short time later I spotted a third Mink following the path of the other two along the edge of the streambed. ‘He’ was running pretty fast so I was lucky to get my lens on him in time for a quick burst of photos before he disappeared again.
This photo and the following seven are sequential shots in a burst that lasted for 8/10ths of a second.
He negotiated some rocks by…
jumping over them.
I considered myself very lucky to have him out in the open, have good light on him and…
get a catch light in his eye in every shot.
That said, in the next photo his eye was obstructed by a blade of grass.
He was beginning to run out of room between the steep streambank at bottom and the thick vegetation he was trying to avoid.
I cropped this photo to show more of the steep bank and the water below.
And then as I began to lose focus on him he disappeared in the grass. But apparently the vegetation was too thick for him so he….
plopped down into the water to swim part of the rest of the way to his companions. I never saw any of the three mink again.
If you think I was stoked when I got these photos, you’re absolutely right.
I still am.
Ron
Notes:
It’s possible that these Mink are escapees from a Mink farm but I think it’s unlikely. Mink are native to this part of Utah and all three of the Mink were the rich dark brown color of wild Mink (made darker because they were wet) instead of the obscenely unnatural colors bred into so many farmed Mink. These three Mink were almost certainly a family group so they’re breeding successfully in the wild. I don’t believe a farm-raised Mink would have the skills to catch a Spotted Sandpiper or any other bird for that matter.
In an article published by The Sierra Club Wildlife Disease Specialist Jeff Bowman had this to say about distinguishing wild Mink from farmed Mink. “It is usually obvious, Bowman said, which mink are wild and which are ranch-born, even in the trap. Your wild mink is small, chocolate-brown, and bitey. It does not come in sapphire, blue iris, white, palomino, or any other color that brings to mind a celebrity baby name, as your farmed mink does (these colors, incidentally, span white, gray, brown, and black). A farmed mink has been raised on a twice-daily splat of high-quality agricultural leftovers, such as cheese, eggs, and sausage trimmings, is at least twice the size of a wild mink, and is more docile.”
Years ago I had the opportunity to tour a Mink farm in northern Utah during what they call “harvest”. I wish I hadn’t. What a thoroughly disgusting operation!
Nice shots! My only mink encounter was at Racquette lake the Adirondacks…I was day dreaming on a stump by the water, heard a funny grunting noise by the wayer’s water’s edge, and a sleek ittle vistor came up, checked out my legs and feet and slid off again…with barely a ripple.
I’ll be that got your attention, Patty!
I like your old, blurry out of focus photo of the mink peeking at you. I also enjoyed seeing it with a coat that was so wet. My fav of your new photos is the one you cropped to show the water surface next to the rapidly running critter.
They don’t stay out in the open very often. My best looks have been when they are crossing a road next to a stream.
Ha, I’ve seen them so few times I call ANY look at a Mink a good look…
“Your wild mink is small, chocolate-brown, and bitey.” — I love this description! So glad you got some time with these adorable, yet bitey, critters. Their coats look much better on them than on any other species.
I wonder if your experience was part of the reason that Toyota hasn’t made a Matrix since 2014. Coincidence? I think not. 😉
Marty, that Matrix was actually a pretty decent little car but eventually it wasn’t for me. Especially when I got it stuck in snow out at Farmington Bay WMA and a friend had to pull me out.
The thing I disliked about it most is that it had DRL, daytime running lights, that couldn’t be turned off. Not good for bird photography from your vehicle.
How wonderful to see the rightful owner of a mink jacket. And to see three??? Wow, wow and wow. And a fourth wow for capturing one with your camera.
Thanks for all four, EC.
A beautiful mink and, despite the poor sandpiper (and muskrats!), a happier story for you, for him and his family than that of the poor minks who made a jacket sitting in my old cedar chest, an inheritance from an aunt who bought it in the 1960s. Fur and feathers look much, much better on their original owners—fortunately it seems to have been taken to heart by many.
“Fur and feathers look much, much better on their original owners”
Absolutely!
Great shots and lesson! If their favorite prey is Muskrat, maybe Lousiana can release them to take out the danged Nutria.
I think the nutria are just too big for the mink. They are also very aggressive and might be able to hold their own even against mink. Here in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) we have lots of nutria and they have increased their numbers significantly even with a good mink and other predator population. The only thing that has reduced nutria numbers is human trappers hired to remove them, and those efforts only last a short time before we again have many nutria.
Dan, in Jefferson Parish (New Orleans area), the parish police used to practice their sharpshooting on nutria. I think there was a public protest. But if they only knew what they did to the muskrat population. It’s the one case of fur that I WOULD wear…and gleefully at that.
Thanks, Arwen. I suspect Dan is right. Again.
Oh what Luck you had in seeing them and getting pictures. Maybe they will show up again for you sometime.
Fingers crossed!
A very interesting post of a fascinating mustelid. Nice to see photos of a mink coat I can appreciate, if you know what I mean.
Lyle, I surely do know what you mean.
They are always a joy to see. I see them from time to time along some local streams, around one local reservoir, and. at a local pond near a large shopping mall. This series of ponds is a popular spot for walkers and cyclists (a paved bike path goes along the edge of each side of the river here.) Yet, as many people as visit this place daily, I suspect very few have ever seen the resident mink. On the few times I’ve pointed them out on the far shore, the people were always unaware that mink were even in the Willamette Valley. Most observations are brief. Every time I have had a camera, the mink has disappeared into the vegetation before I could get a focus. (Then reappears, briefly, as soon as I lower the camera.) Many years ago I used to see muskrat here but I think that the local mink have taken care of most of them as I’ve not seen one for a very long time. These ponds connect to the river so otter also show up from time to time. Mink sightings are brief but always a treat.
Dan, of the hundreds of people who walk, run, bike and drive by this spot each day I’ll bet not more than a handful of them have ever noticed a Mink. Maybe less than a handful.
Cute little feller! Amazing series!
Especially like the sleek wetness of his mink coat …
Thanks Ron.
Thank you, Jamila.
Wow – what a story. Great education for me because I have never seen a mink nor did I know anything about them. Excellent series of shots you got. Murphy decided that you definitely deserved this chance after that first unfortunate experience. Shame you had to witness that killing of the Sandpiper. Killing in nature goes on 24/7, but we rarely get to witness it fortunately.
Thanks, Everett. It was the sounds the sandpiper made that bothered me most.
How wonderful! This sighting makes me happy.
Thank You,
Kaye
Good. Thanks, Kaye.
Congratulations ! Yesterday was payback from the “luck” gods for your
poor little Matrix and the misadventure around the first mink opportunity
—you kept “after it”, and all these years later, you were REALLY PREPARED !
Kris, I’m grateful for the payback even if it was 12 years late…
Congratulations on a great capture and an exciting experience. I’d bet you will be visiting that spot again as often as possible.
Yup, I visited it again this morning, Pat. Saw one Mink for an instant but no photos.
Great capture! The ARE a beautiful color. 🙂 Seem one once (below).
I had an experience with a, probably, escaped farm mink many years ago that a friend & I “thought” was a loose ferret. Did capture it but didn’t take long to figure out is WASN’T a ferret(neat pets by the way). Yes, I got bit tho had it been wild I’m sure it would have been worse. It was returned to the area it was found and released…..😖
Judy, Mink farmers use VERY thick gloves when they have to handle them. They try to avoid handling them for very good reason. Mink are little spitfires with needle sharp teeth, especially the wild ones.
I have retired friends in northwest Montana, former mink farmers so I know alittle about the annual harvests, the inoculations/virus-free caged barns, humans wear booties, etc. They’re vicious biters. They told me the majority of consumers of mink fur reside in Russia and China. Hard to believe those “ugly little creatures” have been commoditized, eh?
Terri, thankfully the demand for Mink fur has gone down significantly in the US in recent years.
What a great experience to find not one mink, but three, especially after 12 years. I’m a little spoiled because I volunteer at a wildlife park and we have one resident mink. He was rehabbed and unable to return to the wild. He eats a variety of fish, meat, veggies and fruit.
Thanks, Cindy. One source I read said their “favorite” prey was Muskrats.
I haven’t seen a Muskrat in this area for months and I used to see them regularly.