Mink eradication

[JohnC6]

From an article I read.

A 2021 trial to eradicate mink from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk has been more successful than anticipated. . In the first four months of this year only six mink were recovered in the project's core area with an average annual decline of over 70% and no breeding detected. The project uses "smart" traps baited with a mink scent lure and trapped animals are DNA-tested to understand local population dynamics. In the absence of mink, water voles which are fast breeders ,can rebuild their numbers . What is also required are clean, well-managed rivers and enough undisturbed habitat. Other species to thrive in a mink-free Britain would be ducks, moorhens, bitterns and kingfishers along with crayfish,eels and frogs.

 

[Dale.]

I have seen a lot less this year myself. I lost count of sightings last year but his year, only one sighting I can recall.

To be honest, they are not a species I would miss but even so, they must be controlled humanely.

 

[tikkathreebarrel]

"Clean, well-managed rivers and undisturbed habitat" that'd be a novelty in itself sadly.

 

[sphexx]

From an article I read.

A 2021 trial to eradicate mink from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk has been more successful than anticipated. . In the first four months of this year only six mink were recovered in the project's core area with an average annual decline of over 70% and no breeding detected. The project uses "smart" traps baited with a mink scent lure and trapped animals are DNA-tested to understand local population dynamics. In the absence of mink, water voles which are fast breeders ,can rebuild their numbers . What is also required are clean, well-managed rivers and enough undisturbed habitat. Other species to thrive in a mink-free Britain would be ducks, moorhens, bitterns and kingfishers along with crayfish,eels and frogs.

I hope it’s successful but I can tell you that while one can eradicate mink temporarily they usually recolonise rivers. They are not very dependant on big bodies of water and are great climbers as well as swimmers.

It‘s possible that the rise in the otter population might keep mink down in rivers since otters are very territorial.

Otters might curtail the recent popularity of “wild swimming“ too

Woman brutally attacked by otter while tubing down Montana river

‘I have more stitches in my body than I can count,’ Jen Royce recalled

www.independent.co.uk

River otter bite in a 52-year-old woman: managing animal bites

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[JohnC6]

I hope it’s successful but I can tell you that while one can eradicate mink temporarily they usually recolonise rivers. They are not very dependant on big bodies of water and are great climbers as well as swimmers.

Years ago back to 2009/2010, I think, when we were in Cornwall I went to Porth Nanven(St Just) to get a photo of the shoreline at low tide. It was very stoney. They are medium to large round,smooth stones and varying shades of beige rather than the rocks we usually associate with a coastline and was the reason I wanted the photo.

As I was setting up my eye was caught by a chase going on over the stones near the shoreline . In front, by about 5m, was a rat, in hot pursuit was a weasel/stoat-looking animal . I mentioned it to someone down there who suggested it was most likely a mink. After checking what they looked like compared to others in that family ,which I now know are called mustelids, I think it was, indeed, a mink which are semi-aquatic animals which may account for it being on the coast although maybe it's rivers and streams rather than the coast they prefer. The mink caught the rat as it, the rat, came away from the stones and up the far side of a small stream emptying into the sea and they were in a grip rolling over and over in the grasses then out of sight. I assume the rat was killed.

I tried to photograph them tussling but didn't have time to adjust the exposure and the shot was well underexposed. They were about 25m from me.If you scroll down to the bottom of this link the very spot is shown in the larger one of the two photos https://cornishbirdblog.com/the-prehistoric-beach-of-porth-nanven-cove/

 

[sphexx]

Years ago back to 2009/2010, I think, when we were in Cornwall I went to Porth Nanven(St Just) to get a photo of the shoreline at low tide. It was very stoney. They are medium to large round,smooth stones and varying shades of beige rather than the rocks we usually associate with a coastline and was the reason I wanted the photo.

As I was setting up my eye was caught by a chase going on over the stones near the shoreline . In front, by about 5m, was a rat, in hot pursuit was a weasel/stoat-looking animal . I mentioned it to someone down there who suggested it was most likely a mink. After checking what they looked like compared to others in that family ,which I now know are called mustelids, I think it was, indeed, a mink which are semi-aquatic animals which may account for it being on the coast although maybe it's rivers and streams rather than the coast they prefer. The mink caught the rat as it, the rat, came away from the stones and up the far side of a small stream emptying into the sea and they were in a grip rolling over and over in the grasses then out of sight. I assume the rat was killed.

I tried to photograph them tussling but didn't have time to adjust the exposure and the shot was well underexposed. They were about 25m from me.If you scroll down to the bottom of this link the very spot is shown in the larger one of the two photos https://cornishbirdblog.com/the-prehistoric-beach-of-porth-nanven-cove/

Mink have no problem killing rats. They certainly kill muskrats which go to about 2kg I think and there’s a chap on YouTube who trains mink to hunt them -- just your cup of tea John, he’s a Mormon too so you’d love him .

I know mink take piglets from outdoor bred pigs near rivers.

Otters. I recall passing a family picnicking in summer who had a baby laid on a blanket nearby. next to a nearly dry river bed. While walking along that river bed earlier I‘d come face to face with an otter (I don’t know which of us was more surprised) and I thought hmmm …. I wonder what an opportunist predator would make of a baby ㋡

 

[SFTPhotography]

I'd never have guessed an otter would hurt a fly. Effing H

 

[Jelster]

Mink have no problem killing rats. They certainly kill muskrats which go to about 2kg I think and there’s a chap on YouTube who trains mink to hunt them -- just your cup of tea John, he’s a Mormon too so you’d love him .

I know mink take piglets from outdoor bred pigs near rivers.

Otters. I recall passing a family picnicking in summer who had a baby laid on a blanket nearby. next to a nearly dry river bed. While walking along that river bed earlier I‘d come face to face with an otter (I don’t know which of us was more surprised) and I thought hmmm …. I wonder what an opportunist predator would make of a baby ㋡

There was rumour that the Bald Eagle at Eagle Heights in Kent once took a Yorkshire Terrier that was off lead in the bottom of the valley. I can't remember where I heard it from but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[welshwizard645]

I'd never have guessed an otter would hurt a fly. Effing H

The ones at the BWC attack visitors feet.....obviously moved on from their usual staple diet.

 

[sphexx]

I'd never have guessed an otter would hurt a fly. Effing H

It gives you something else to worry about besides dogs and wolves Steve. . Joking apart, nearly everything can hurt you under the right wrong circumstances

 

[sphexx]

There was rumour that the Bald Eagle at Eagle Heights in Kent once took a Yorkshire Terrier that was off lead in the bottom of the valley. I can't remember where I heard it from but it wouldn't surprise me.

I had a local reliable account that a raptor of some description (not a red kite which are as common as flies in this area) took a small jack Russell type terrier but fortunately, for the terrier, dropped it. There’s YouTube videos of eagles carrying off mountain goats by the head which looks pretty genuine though a lot of the “wild animal” videos either don’t show why they claim or are stories made up with video clips from various sources.

 

[Ed Sutton]

Mink have no problem killing rats.

They certainly don't, and they can spot them from a fair distance. I watched a mink swimming along the far side of Ribble margin one evening. Suddenly it stopped. Then it shot up the steep bank a good twenty feet and nailed a rat. Mink aren't scared of people either. Again on the Ribble one came within less than ten feet of me on another occasion and stared at me for some time.

As for otters, they'll take most of the species listed in the OP.

 

[SFTPhotography]

It gives you something else to worry about besides dogs and wolves Steve. . Joking apart, nearly everything can hurt you under the right wrong circumstances

You forgot bears, I really don't like bears. Bears give me big gun thoughts

Otters are quite small, I don't fear them, I don't like swimming so it's not a big risk for me.

 

[sphexx]

You forgot bears, I really don't like bears. Bears give me big gun thoughts

Otters are quite small, I don't fear them, I don't like swimming so it's not a big risk for me.

Some otters are huge though not around here unless there’s an escaped one somewhere with your name on it

 

[Dale.]

Mink have no problem killing rats.

Mink have no problem killing anything, they do it because they can. I have been faced down by one, a very unsettling experience. Where most wild animals would run, mink stand their ground, they have no fear.

Otters (read foxes, BOPS, badgers etc etc) are no saints but they are a natural part of our ecosystem and it balances out. Mink have no place in our ecosystem.

 

[SFTPhotography]

Do Mink not make for really good fur coats?

 

[Deleted member 68495]

Squirrels too, when cornered, can get rather feisty, but then so can rats, mice, Cornish natives. My own dog when I first got him from the rescue shelter was a little horror and would go for everything, including people walking past, but with patience and quiet determination and a little experience (a lot more now), I brought him round; I cannot do the same for the squirrels.

 

[sphexx]

Squirrels too, when cornered, can get rather feisty, but then so can rats, mice, Cornish natives. My own dog when I first got him from the rescue shelter was a little horror and would go for everything, including people walking past, but with patience and quiet determination and a little experience (a lot more now), I brought him round; I cannot do the same for the squirrels.

If you can find it on YouTube you would probably like the mink training videos of Joseph Carter (the guy I referred to earlier). I think he’s a genius given there’s no handbook for mink training. I don’t recommend his mink hunting videos (he calls it ”minkenry”, analogous to falconry) as they are a bit bloody.

I have mixed feelings about mink but they have to be eradicated here if at all possible.

 

[Cobra]

I have been faced down by one, a very unsettling experience.

My working GSP had one pinned down in a lake side tree stump.
You should have heard it growl ( the mink)
It actually backed down, it might have been the large rock I had picked up.

Do Mink not make for really good fur coats?

That's why they were bought here from the States.
And then the do-gooders released as many as they could find.

As one guy said a few years ago ... "forgive them father, for they know not what they do"

 

[ancient_mariner]

Do Mink not make for really good fur coats?

That's why we have a mink problem - that and animal activists: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1998/sep/18/animalwelfare.world

 

[SFTPhotography]

That's why we have a mink problem - that and animal activists: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1998/sep/18/animalwelfare.world

Time to make fur coats great again

 

[Cobra]

Time to make fur coats great again

I doubt that there are any mink farms left ( in the UK at least)

But it seems that to make one fur coat, about 35 ranched or 55 wild minks are required.
Good luck with catching enough.

 

[Pixbarmy]

Do Mink not make for really good fur coats?

Women get minks, the same way that minks get minks!

 

[sphexx]

Once they’re eradicated in rivers what is to be done about the ones in towns? York July 2020:

VIDEO - Following on from the Mink story earlier in the week. #York today. Best not go too near - They bite, hard. | By Greatest Hits Radio York & North Yorkshire | Facebook

VIDEO - Following on from the Mink story earlier in the week. #York today. Best not go too near - They bite, hard.

fb.watch

 

[Gremlin]

One of my old dogs used to catch mink along the canal where I walked them, he was a gundog mix.
Used to worry me as I knew what vicious little sods they are but he never got a mark on him, you'd hear the
noise and he came back proudly with his trophy

 

[sphexx]

One of my old dogs used to catch mink along the canal where I walked them, he was a gundog mix.
Used to worry me as I knew what vicious little sods they are but he never got a mark on him, you'd hear the
noise and he came back proudly with his trophy

Did you get enough for a coat?

 

[Tringa]

I can understand your worry about your dog but the mink aren't vicious, they are just trying to survive.

I think they are delightful looking animals but they should never have become part of the UK fauna.

Given their abilities I'm not sure they can be eradicated.

Dave

 

[sphexx]

I can understand your worry about your dog but the mink aren't vicious, they are just trying to survive.

I think they are delightful looking animals but they should never have become part of the UK fauna.

Given their abilities I'm not sure they can be eradicated.

Dave

I get what you are saying and I don’t like the use of vicious in this context however “trying to survive” don’t quite capture the sheer biteyness of the admirable little sods

 

[Cobra]

“trying to survive” don’t quite capture the sheer biteyness of the admirable little sods

I'm guessing he's never tried to remove a live one from a trap

 

[sphexx]

I'm guessing he's never tried to remove a live one from a trap

The reason I said how are they “going to remove mink from towns“ was that when that video of the mink in York was posted originally in the local news, people were saying how lovely they are and so fluffy .

 

[Deleted member 68495]

people were saying how lovely they are and so fluffy .

People say that about the domestic cat, while ignoring it's penchant for destroying wildlife.

 

[Tringa]

I'm guessing he's never tried to remove a live one from a trap

Yes, you are correct, I have never tried to remove a live one from a trap but any animal in that situation is going to fight back/try to escape using whatever it has got, and mink have got a lot.

Perhaps it is just the way I think of vicious, ie being cruel.

Dave

 

[Cobra]

Perhaps it is just the way I think of vicious, ie being cruel.

Although the dictionary defines vicious as deliberately cruel or violent,
I wouldn't say they were cruel that is not in their vocabulary, but they are certainly vicious predators, taking on anything up to duck sizes birds and large fish.
Among other food items as well, of course.

 

[sphexx]

People say that about the domestic cat, while ignoring its penchant for destroying wildlife.

Cats make good fur coats too …

 

[Cobra]

Cats make good fur coats too …

And Curry apparently.

I know someone a few years ago that had a contract to clear feral cats from an area.
He used to skin and clean them and sell them to the local India takeaway, owners.
Apparently they look very similar to rabbits in that state.

So the joke many years ago about them eating cats wasn't entirely false.

 

[sphexx]

And Curry apparently.

I know someone a few years ago that had a contract to clear feral cats from an area.
He used to skin and clean them and sell them to the local India takeaway, owners.
Apparently they look very similar to rabbits in that state.

So the joke many years ago about them eating cats wasn't entirely false.

Years ago the rumours were about Chinese restaurants. I think it’s sparked by number/s of cats that go missing at certain times of year which I always guessed was probably due to a mating season rather than predatory Chinese. I seem to remember you can distinguish rabbit from cat by the position of the kidneys though the practice of both Indian and Chinese cooking is to reduce meat to small pieces so I’m not sure it’s much use.

 

[Cobra]

I seem to remember you can distinguish rabbit from cat by the position of the kidneys

And that actually was the reason he got caught, someone checked

 

[ancient_mariner]

And Curry apparently.

Katsu?

My mother had an allotment alongside an ex-navy man. One of his stories was that the Chinese cook on their ship thought that rabbits and cats were the same (the phrase "Ah, me savvy labbit, all say meow" is a part of family history) first told to me in the early 70s. True story.

 

[Cobra]

Katsu?

 

[SFTPhotography]

People say that about the domestic cat, while ignoring it's penchant for destroying wildlife.

I like domesticated cats, useful things. Keeps the mice and rats at bay.