{"id":100009,"date":"2021-07-07T06:04:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=100009"},"modified":"2021-07-07T06:21:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:21:00","slug":"my-first-mink-in-over-twelve-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/07\/my-first-mink-in-over-twelve-years\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Mink In Over Twelve Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

And my first decent photos of one, ever.<\/p>\n

First a little of my history with American Mink. It ain’t pretty.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Within a few minutes I spotted two Mink<\/em> scampering through the grass from my right to my left on the far side of the stream. I raised my lens but they disappeared\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

And then it happened.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

This photo and the following seven are sequential shots in a burst that lasted for 8\/10ths of a second.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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He negotiated some rocks by…<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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jumping over them.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

I considered myself very lucky to have him out in the open, have good light on him and…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

get a catch light in his eye in every shot.<\/p>\n

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That said, in the next photo his eye was obstructed by a blade of grass.<\/p>\n

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He was beginning to run out of room between the steep streambank at bottom and the thick vegetation he was trying to avoid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

I cropped this photo to show more of the steep bank and the water below.<\/p>\n

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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….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

If you think I was stoked when I got these photos, you’re absolutely right.<\/p>\n

I still am.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In an article published by The Sierra Club Wildlife Disease S<\/em>pecialist Jeff Bowman had this to say about distinguishing wild Mink from farmed Mink.\u00a0<\/em>“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.”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And my first decent photos of one, ever.<\/p>\n

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