Mink

The American mink is now firmly established here in the UK. They are fantastic swimmers and their prowess as hunters puts most native wildlife at risk. To most people mink pose no problems, if however you run a poultry farm, own a fishery or even have expensive koi carp in the garden pond, a hungry mink is not a friend of yours. Mink are also responsible for the decline of the Water Vole.

  • Risks

    Mink numbers are believed to be on the decrease as a result of the success of the Otter at returning to our waterways. However they are still a serious pest in our countryside, they are largely accepted as a cause of the decline in our water voles. They will take game birds and domestic poultry and on fisheries they can decimate fish stocks.

  • Treatment

    The treatment for mink is to either proof your poultry houses/runs or trapping.

    We have a number of live catch traps which are ideal in preventing non-target species from coming to any harm.

    Where suitable a mink raft can be employed, this man made raft is positioned off the bank in the water, mink will naturally use these islands to rest upon and feed on, they can be fitted with a clay surface to monitor for mink activity (paw prints) or with humane live catch traps.

  • Life Cycle

    Mink generally live around rivers and lakes, a male’s territory can be several miles of river bank and will overlap several female. The females will select a nest site in the heart of her territory, often in a tree hollow or hole in the bank to have her young. She will only breed once a year and the litter sizes vary although usually between six and ten, of which many will not make it to adulthood. In the wild they may only live a few years, in captivity they can live up to ten years old.

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