"BABY ON BOARD"

Mink (North American) - 9 Photos

So there I was checking out a pond where I have seen beavers in the early Spring but not much else in the way of mammals. There was, however, some bird & duck activity which I was monitoring but then just off to my left, came what I thought was a muskrat. And then quickly changed my mind, it was a mink. It dived underwater & then briefly thereafter popped up in front and then disappeared under an unused beaver lodge (Photo #1 & Photo #2).

And then a few minutes later, it popped up again, went back into the water & swam across onto a nearby shore, where it disappeared (Photo #3 through to Photo #5). A short while later it came out, swam directly back to where I was sitting, dived under again and went off to what I thought would be fishing.

And then sometime later it re-appeared & repeated the same process. This time I managed to catch some shots of what it had in its mouth as it approached my side of the shoreline. "That's some strange looking fish?" and then "Why would it be bringing fish back & forth." Mink generally eat fish in-situ other than mother minks who bring back freshly caught fish to their offspring. And then it's only one trip, not repeated trips in succession from dry land.

I had had an opportunity to review the photos initially on camera & because of this mink's narrowed head size & more delicate features, I thought it might be a female mink.

And then reviewing the "catch", I realized this was no fish but a young mink. Mother minks, like weasels, have been known to move their little ones from one den to another to ensure they are not discovered by predators. This was probably one of those moves & Momma had decided that a disused beaver lodge was the perfect location. It was close by to the original den, could be reached by water, with an abundance of fresh fish just on the doorstep. And they carry them across, by the scruff of the neck, much like a mother cat with her kittens (Photo #6 through Photo #9).  

That first swim to & from was probably the first, if not the second trip, the mother had made and I had caught her with the camera bringing over the last of her offspring.

After this last trip, no more sightings and I assume everyone was all tucked up in their new abode.

And there is a sequel to this story, which happened the following morning. It will appear in the next blog, "Pond Patrol".

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6

PHOTO #7

PHOTO #8

PHOTO #9