Photo Phriday 123 - Mink

Over the years, I've taken hundreds of mink in all types of habitats, and with all kinds of traps. Mink have been a valued part of the annual harvest in a variety of locations. Certainly, a valuable furbearer to me.


Here's a glossy young female just checking me out.



This is a big adult male in July. Note the eartag.



The mink populations were extraordinarily high among the southeast Alaska islands.



My son, Valya, and I would annually catch more than 100 mink in December in SE Alaska.



This is a radio-collar I used in central Idaho mink back in the 1970s to find out home ranges of the mink.



I found that implant transmitters (into the gut cavity) worked much better than collars for following the mink.


Hope you enjoy this week's Photo Phriday images.
Jack

This is my favorite mink. My little buddy's daughter got this one. A 4 pounder, and I think it was her first one. I got it mounted for her......jk

Thanks for posting Jack used to run long lines for mink 150-200 miles when mink were good prices.... bucks $50 a head and females $25 a head. Lots of miles and memories of various creeks, rivers, lakes.

Gulp. What was the home range you found if mink in your study ? I wonder if it varies from state to the home ranges ? Marty

Mink home ranges vary tremendously depending on habitat quality. I always preferred to express home ranges in terms of miles of shoreline rather than square areas (sq. miles, hectares, acres, etc). Generally, adult males used 1.5 to 3.5 linear miles and adult females used 0.3 to 1.9 linear miles. Juveniles used much less, except during dispersals. I'm sure it varies state-to-state, and habitat-to-habitat.

Beautiful pics. The ear tag is interesting. Lots of questions. When applied? How was mink originally captured? Link to any studies?

I've always loved pursuing mink and once I mastered the bottom edge set the chase only became stronger. Thought I was catching a few extra large mink til I was selling fur at Wiebkes in La Crosse one day and Dan asked me if I'd like to see some big mink. Sure . . .

A truck had just backed up out back and they were off loading whioe frozen Red River mink. Unreal. They looked like small otter.

The home ranges you gave are also very interesting. Quite a few mink down here in the Lower Wisconsin River valley. Would love to know what the density is here.

Good stuff, thanks for posting.

Nice shots and info, Jack. Mink sometimes visit here too. Lots of water around for them. Hippie caught a dandy years ago , and sent it to me . The first two pics are portraits of that one.

What is a mink’s prime predator. I used to trap quite a few mink. I have not seen a mink or mink track in the past six or eight years. I live in an area where tens of thousands of acres of land are federally protected - so I dont really think it is habitat change. We have lots of coons, otters, coyotes, gators, and bobcats

I originally used the Monel metal ear tags. Got away from that and went to plastic tags; less problematic in freezing weather. Eartags were applied at all times of year.

I captured mink in Tomahawk cage traps or barrel traps. For reference, see the mink chapter I co-wrote in "Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America", published by Ontario, Canada (The "Fur Bible").

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska has a giant race of mink also. Pretty much all the ranched mink in the world have these genetics, making them much bigger than typical wild mink. The northeast coast (Maine, Nova Scotia, PEI, etc) used to have a giant species of mink that is now extinct. "Sea Mink"

Jack

Sharon -

Many thanks for contributing your artwork to this thread...always appreciated. They're beautiful!

Jack

My first mink in Saline Co Kansas- probably 1990 or 91.

The Dusty dog was a mink hunter. This mink came by the house one morning dragging a cotton tail rabbit. The dog was sleeping so I called him and turned him out. If a mink could not get to a hole or water it had no chance.

This is a Yukon/Kuskokwim mink. Was the best in the world when mink was king. I have had mink ranchers ask me to live catch some for them.

Looks big
i believe a lot of the ranch mink have that strain in their genetics.
I remember speaking with "Doc" from NY at the FHA convention years ago. He got a few to ranch.Not sure if it was those or Mackenzie river mink,one of the two..
You can see why beaver houses,old or active are good places for mink sets.

This one was living under the bait shed.I squeeked him out for a pic.
Notice he is looking up for the source of the sqeeky bird in distress,lol.



I decided to cage him and re locate him to a safe place out on the trapline-he got a pass that year anyway.

Where can someone get a copy of the book you mentioned?

https://www.amazon.com/Furbearer-Management-Conservation-North-America/dp/0774393653

Gonna be a used copy. Ontario TA used to have it available on CD but not sure they do any longer. Book was out of print for quite a while

Within the last couple weeks a new chapter has been put together for inclusion in the above book. It is.......... Survey and Monitoring Methods for Furbearers,


It can be downloaded at this link;

https://www.wildlifeecology.org/fur_book_15furmonitoing.html

Best place is at the library. They are prohibitively expensive, but worth every nickel. "Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America" was first published in 1987 by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. It is the "Bible" when one is interested in furbearers. I don't know what it is currently selling for, but I imagine several hundred dollars.

I see Abebooks has a copy for $367.99 for a "used" copy.

Jack

Great pictures. Great thread Mr. Gulo.
Thanks to everyone for sharing.
Mac

Was fishing a small river once. About 40 ft wide or so. Was wading in about knee deep water. Saw a mink on the other shore. Watched him for about 5 minutes running back and forth on the bank. He was looking for something it seemed.
Eventually he walked up to the waters edge, peered into the water then jumped in.
I thought he would pop up in a couple of seconds.
Nope, I looked down and up stream for about a good minute.
I had a good view of the river and was sure he didn't come back up.
Musta had a hole in the bank or something I figured.
All of a sudden he pops up about 5 ft downstream from where I was standing and was heading right at me.
Scared the daylights out of me, I waved a arm and yelled at him, last thing I wanted was a mink crawling on me.
He went back down and I never saw him again.

Good story, Dave. Thanks for posting. I once sat in a skiff on the ocean, watching a big male mink fishing for herring. He was in a big boulder patch. Tide was low (about 20' to tide line). I watched him catch 17 herring, go up through the rocks with a fish, disappear into the vegetation, evidently cache it, then return for yet another herring. I watched him for probably 35-40 minutes, at about 15 yards. He was not spooked at all when a bald eagle alit in an overhead tree. On the other hand, he disappeared into the rocks when a raven flew by, very obviously scared.

Things that people do not know is the best way to put up mink for auction is to have a good inspection area. A grader has to go in that area at least 5 times during the process.
Two thumbs up is used many a time on inspections.

Mink oil is used for water-proofing boots and in WW1 the Canadian troops that were killed in the trenches the medics would check the boots for ID, always remember that from Great uncles that were in the body recovery telling a young 9 year old

Ah . . . . in the back of my mind I thought I saw this picture somewhere before. Been awhile. Nice work, sir.

There was one of those books go in a local auction for 40$CAN a few months back

Thanks Sharon for providing the nice pictures for my article on mink trapping in the" Trappers Post " last year. This is an interesting thread Gulo.

Think I have plenty around home. I have seen them chase rabbits many times. One day one tried a goose nest but got his butt kicked. That was after a otter had tried also. Figured the otter wasn't very hungry that day. Mink sometimes plug my otter traps. I prefer not to catch them.

My sistah in law sent me this pic of a mink she took ...while on a walk near the house

Nice photos everybody. Mink are one of the neatest animals on the planet.

X2 Trapper7. Whenever I am out about. If I see a mink hunting. I will watch them until they disappear. My grandfather taught me how to blind set for mink in cattail swamps.
Rabbits and mink have trails. Willow is a good place to set in. Fascinating creatures for sure.
My first catch was a mink. In an old dry muskrat den. Piece of rabbit for bait. A 1 1/2 long spring trap on a drag in December.
Thanks for posting this thread.

Trapper7 and stinkypete -

I would certainly agree, you guys, with your assessment of mink. They're a fascinating critter, for sure!

Thanks for contributing to the thread.

Jack

Any chance you have any of those chicken wire traps the locals used to use? Anyone still use them? Ray Waska in Emo gave me a few when I lived in Nome but I never found the right places to put them. Heard other elders in Emo talk about "mink camp" back in the day.

As a matter of fact, I do have a few left. Here is one I made. Most are still hung on a bush on my trapline. This was the main Mink, otter, and muskrat trap in this area. You do need the right size creek to set them, but sometimes just along the bank works good. They are set under ice. I catch fish in them too.

Thanks guys, for the photos of the fyke traps. They can be very efficient in some places.

Jack

We call them Talooyuk here.

Walt, it is always a pleasure to be asked to illustrate such articles for trappers.

Really like all these photos .

I went out with Ray, around Emo (Emmonak) once. He showed me the kind of places to set but never found any around Nome. I'll admit I didn't look that hard. With the right size mesh you could fill that trap with immanguks, (blackfish). Would need a pretty stout mesh to hold otter.

That is a Boone & Crockett mink Jeff !!

One time many years ago I was walking down to watch the river freeze .. Late October. No snow yet. I hear an awful racket of squalling and hissing. Also lots of leaf noise off in the distance.

The I notice a large mink chasing a small mink.

I stood very still and watched.

They ran right at me and the little one circled and hid behind my left boot. Rested her head on my toe while growling at the big guy. The air was thick with musk.
I figured they were going to chase each other around my legs like a barber's pole.

I was imagining my Levi's shredded and blood running into the tops of my boots. Eventually, they both took off into the trees still snarling.

Then my heart started again.

The story below is part of an article. I wrote 10 or 12 years ago . I have caught lots of mink in my life
But this one when I was still a young boy highlights the minks natural curiosity and a boys tendency for getting in trouble.
(Story) As a young boy, I would spend most summer weekends at my parents. Cottage on mud lake by Chetek wisconsin. Mink were often observed along the shore with one litter of young even being raised in our boat house. They would be seen swimming around our wire mesh live well which was attached to the dock. One evening while rowing our old 14 foot wood boat along the shore casting for bass I spotted a mink watching me from a log. Being young and not having acquired much common sense, I cast my wooden surface lure towards the log. The mink eyed it curiously until I gave it a twitch and then pounced on it . Now I had a real dilemma on my hands. I fought the mink back to the boat and set the rod down on the floor with one foot on it and rowed back to the dock dragging the hapless mink behind. My father came down to the dock after hearing my yells. With a mouthful of hooks , catch and release was not an option , so he dispatched the mink. After a firm scolding I never again used my Fishing lures for anything but fish.

For otter, you have to use the heavy gauge wire. The trap I posted above held otter. The thinner gauge they will tear right through. I have had them pull muskrats through to eat them before.


Great stories guys.

Back in the late 70's or early 80's, Irwin Goldberg (Seattle) showed me a pile of Kuskokwim mink skins. I've seen lots of mink skins since then, and nothing has even been close to the Kuskokwim when comparing wild mink.

Was checking some fisher sets one morning ..down by a frozen beaver pond.

When out of the corner of my eye..I see 2 mink.fighting on the ice.

That ball of fur and fury ..went back and forth a couple times..

What a show...until the wind blew in my face...what a smell !

A few years back I got a top lot mink at FHA ...fetched me 63.00

Here is an ADF&G video with a bit about the Y-K Delta mink and Mink Festival in Bethel. I figured many on here possibly haven't seen it. They do show a few mink being caught in the taluyooks. H.E. Goldberg was the biggest buyer for those mink for years, and preferred to buy otters and mink, turned fur out. This was still pretty common practice, at least up until the mid 1990's, in some regions of the state, with trappers turning mink and otter fur out.
It was a pretty hard habit for some to break, since Goldberg bought them fur out for quite a few decades.This is obviously not how the auctions wanted them, and may have cost guys transitioning to shipping to auctions a few dollars, after Goldberg quit buying.

https://youtu.be/mY1AxYL9fXs?si=1JRiTOqVCNXPQoi7

Cool video T4E. I remember seeing that on RATNET years ago. Good to see some familiar faces that are gone now.

I was the fur buyer that came after Goldberg that had to convince the trappers not to turn their mink and otter fur out. It was a challenge, most did not want to do it. I also had to break them of the habit of skinning out all the paws, and to leave them inside not turned out.

YJ,
Yeah, back when RATNET started, they had some pretty diverse programming! Later, 360 North used to show a lot of the good old Alaskana videos, but it seems like 360 North programming has switched to garbage liberal nonsense now
Funny about the unnecessary turning of skin out furs, and feet left intact. Some of those buyers in the 60's, 70's and 80's would dock your offers pretty hard, if you cut the feet/ claws off marten and mink, and demanded the mink and otter had to be fur out. I bet that was a tough transition for your trappers, since most of us long time trappers tend to get set in our ways, and have a tough time changing our fur handling habits!! I know around '83-'88, down here, we still left paws and claws on them. Mink were around $75 then, and marten $100.

Here is another of those old 90's videos I found, when trying to locate that one about village trappers and the Y-K Delta Mink Festival. Some more familiar faces in this video too

https://youtu.be/RjQPzuSYi-4?si=-SZqMQs6IKr4jXo9

Great video, that must have been in the early 70's. I noticed Jerry Campbell, Goldberg's buyer. Down in Washington at that time I always preferred to have Irwin grade my furs, I always got a better price from him than if Jerry graded them,

That is another good video. I used to eat breakfast with governor Jay every morning at NELBRO packing in Naknek.

I not only had a hard time convincing them to cut off the paws off and not turn the fur, you should of see the confusion on their faces when I showed them how to cut a inspection window !

Great video, that made me smile and made my day. I wish programming like this was shown more often.

Over the years, it goes in spurts, there is a female mink that brings the young into the yard and beach here. I’ve. Never seen more than 3 young.
The place is only 38’ from waters edge so it’s a great viewing. Fun watching her teach. I see her for maybe 4 years with new batches then a break of a few then it starts over. I’m sure they are different females that move into the area.

In the fall the otters move in for the frogs, that’s another great show.

Osky

Wow, thanks T4E. Dean Wilson, Joe Mattie, Mark Richard's. Mark lives near me now in Fbks. Zarnke, Pat Valkenburg. Seeing Fleener that young. Surprised Pat's wife wasn't in that vid. Wonder what Audrey is doing now. Gulo must have known most of those people.

Some of the old timers found it hard to convert to fur-in-fur-out change of scenery. It was always a shame to see 100 marten come in with fur in. At least you could see the throat patches through the pelt.
As for mink what a shame not being able to see the leather, as it was a hiding spot for early caught. Especially if the tail was pulled. From 60 to 6 in a heart beat.

martentrapper -

Yeah. Brings back good memories. Somehow, I never really knew Mark Richards. But Dean Wilson, Sr., Joe Mattie, Patrick, Audrey, and Fleener I knew well. I well remember once on an Aeroflot jet headed for Khabarovsk, chewing the fat with Joe and another old friend, Lars Eidnes. They were headed to Russia on a buying trip. Somewhere over the North Pacific. It wasn't 'til years later, in Fairbanks, that I learned from Joe, how they did on that trip. Good memories. Some 30 years ago.

Jack

Gulo It s hard for me to decide if I learn more from your post or if I am more amazed by your great photo work But either way we all win Your info concerning home range is certainly of use to anyone trying to trap them in large numbers , I really enjoy atching them In my early days of trapping for them many old time trappers portrayed them as sly and wary and almost impossible to catch in large numbers And it was made out to be that only the best of the best trappers could catch them in quantity It took me a while but once I learned how the mink use cover as it travels and you set accordingly being a mink trapper becomes a bit easierI went for catching one from time to time mostly in sets made for coon to catching 2 or 3 a year Still not many but nearly all that I caught when in sets made to catch mink And I had at least one per season for 20 plus years And my number of mink targeted varied from year to year depending on the value of the fur When you can look at a spot and see where the trap needs to be to catch one you are now in the mind set of being a mink trapper My favorite encounter with a mink was once while deer hunting I was walking near the edge of a shallow stream And on one side was a harvested corn field and on the other side of the stream was large patches of multiflora rose mixed with some cattails, black berry bushes ,, barn yard grass ,foxtail and other types of cover I had killed deer there in the past It is a good spot to walk slowly and maybe stop and glass ahead to see one in the cover
I stopped to load my gun and I saw movement in the water just ahead of me I figured muskrat as I had gotten a few in that aera over the years BUT what I saw was a mink swimming my way with a muskrat in it's mouth The mink had the rat centered in is mouth. and heading down stream with it using it like a rudder as it went It went by me without any reaction My guess is with it's mouth full of muskrat And with their little eyes it's field of view was pretty limited I do not have any pictures of it beside the one I have in my head But I can still see it clear as if it had happened yesterday That little mink had invited a guest for lunch and it was intent on being the perfect host when the meal arrived

Stumbled across this one frolicking on a beaver stash.

west side - Great story!! Through the years while fishing or trapping, I can recall probably 50 times that I've watched mink when I'm out and about, although I've never seen one carrying a muskrat. Mice (voles) and fish, yes, but not muskrats. I think spouting off home range sizes is basically bogus information. Every habitat is of different quality, thus, home ranges may be 1/4 mile long or it may be 5 miles. Trapping mink in archipelago southeast Alaska was a real education. I put out only 24 Conibear boxes along a ten-mile stretch of islands on December 1, and picked them up on Christmas day. Always got a few mink more than 100. I've never before or afterwards seen such a phenomenal density of mink. The first check I'd usually get more than 20 mink in 24 boxes.

Was there a very large number of prey species there to would draw mink into that area ? Or on the other hand very few predators on the mink in that area ?That had to be fun checking traps with near to a 100% success rate as far as the number of mink caught and the number of sets you where checking.

Seems I had these on T-man a while back????????

My All Purpose Boy hung some deer parts under his second story deck so they could watch the tweety birds peck at them all winter. A Mink spent nearly all winter feeding on the stuff. It had to climb several feet up a 6x6 or 4x6 treated pole to access the bounty. It basically ignored you only 2-3 feet away inside the picture window.