mink habbitat question

[klashnekoff 3]

Have a tiny stream on my land, nothing special, just basicly a ditch sized stream with water up to five inches deap, deeper in some places,Lots of cover and trees on the banks with most waterside wildlife alongside it,My question is i have seen mink padding in a few different spots along the stream and my dogs have been pretty intrested in trees along side the water and roots on the edge, My question is do mink normally live in such small streams ad have fellow trappers ever caught or seen mink on small bits of water?

 

Im sure i read a post a while back by johngalaway who had trapped mink on a very similar sized stream, Im probally in the next few weeks going to drop a few decently placed tunnel traps or cages to see.

 

Just be intresting to here your views?

[DUCKWING 302]

MY THOUGHTS ?

 

YOU AND A FEW OTHERS ..........................PROBABLY DONT WANT TO HEAR THEM ... BUT HERE GOES

 

THAT MINK ON YER STREAM IS MOST LIKELY DOING YOU A FAVOUR ......... HOW ?

 

WELL ........ THERE WONT BE ANY RATS ON THAT STRETCH ............ EVERY SMALL STREAM AROUND HERE THAT HASNT MINK ON IT HOLDS QUITE A FEW RATS .......... THEY USE THEM AS MOST OTHER ANIMALS AS HIGHWAYS ..........

THE RAT DOES AS MUCH IF NOT MORE DAMAGE THAN THE MINK PLUS SPREADS DISEASES .......... THE OTTERS IVE WATCHED HERE DO A LOT MORE , SUCKING UP MALLARD YOUNGSTERS LIKE NO TOMORROW !! ............AS WELL AS KILLING A LOT OF OTHER WILDLIFE

THIS IS WHAT IVE SEEN MYSELF .... NOT WATCHED ON TV OR READ ABOUT !

 

IF YOU HAVENT A PROBLEM WITH THE MINK ....... WHY KILL IT ?

 

ITS SUMMER AND DO DOUBT THEY WILL HAVE A LITTER NOT TOO FAR AWAY ..................... THEY WILL BE THERE IN THE WINTER ....TO TRAP WHEN YOU WONT BE LETTING YOUNG STARVE ............

 

IF YOU KEEP POULTRY ETC NEAR BYE I CAN UNDERSTAND , IT NEEDS TO GO ..................

 

BUT ........ TO KILL IT BECAUSE....... " ITS " ..... THERE IS JUST PLAIN SAD

 

 

ALL LIFE IS SET BY THE SEASONS ............ YET ....... STILL SO MANY FAIL TO NOTICE ...

 

 

 

DUCKWING

[klashnekoff 3]

Thanks for your views Duckwing, However by the stream there is around eight flight ponds and three pheasant pens close by and birds will be going to wood and mallards will be on water soon so if minky is there then she will become a problem. I was walking about an hour ago and found a freshly killed moorhen on the waters edge. It is a good friend on mines ground and i do quite alot of the pest and predator controll on it. Im thinking it could be a bitch mink rearing a litter somewhere.

[OldTrapCollector 377]

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with Duckwing's perspective, I also look at it from a 'keepers perspective so far as 'vermin on a shoot' is concerned.

 

A litter of mink will decimate a release pen overnight (I have seen it happen) and so with a need to control the animals to protect stock then this must be your primary outlook.

 

If the stream is nowhere near any protectable or confined game or poultry then live and let live

 

So far as habitat is concerned, mink with run any waterway, still or moving, and any hedgerow or rabbit bury in search of food

 

OTC

[DUCKWING 302]

WELL MATE ,,

 

THATS WHY THIS FOLLOWING PIECE WAS IN MY POST ..........

 

IF YOU KEEP POULTRY ETC NEAR BYE I CAN UNDERSTAND , IT NEEDS TO GO ..................

 

I HONESTLY THINK THE MINK GETS THE BLAME FOR A LOT OF KILLS BY OTHER PREDATORS ..........

 

I TRAPPED AROUND 60 IN THE WINTER .... ALL WERE SKINNED AND 90 % WERE STOMACH CONTENT CHECKED

IT WAS ENLIGHTENING ........ GW TOLD ME SO ........ I JUST HAD TO SEE FOR MYSELF

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

[klashnekoff 3]

There is not a rabbit in sight on this land, However i can confirm mink are about as i have seen defenate fresh padding earlier on tonight. And im convinced they are away from the water as much as there on it.

[JohnGalway 1,043]

I met a fella two weeks back, just across from the house. He was part of a new market that's been set up in the village, selling fudge, eggs, jams. Doing well the bugger with his 10 reg jeep, nice fella though.

 

He and his Dad, now sadly passed on, used to buy a lot of sheep in this area. So he has a few good sized sheds, one of which they converted ready for some day old ducks. The ducks, 200 of them, arrived on the Wednesday. Joe was at a market on the Friday when his phone rang. The wife. Long story short, Mr Mink had been and killed 133 of the 200 ducks on one visit. I asked him about the shed, where the gates were he meshed off to let air in but keep foxes out. Let me guess, 2 inch weld mesh, exactly.

 

I'm on a course at the moment where one of our lecturers is an Ecologist. She told us of an island in a particular lake which had a population of 150 breeding pairs of... well, I forget of what - wild birds, but its not important to this story. In a very short space of time Mr Mink had reduced that population to 3 breeding pairs.

 

I believe they're also playing fcuk with ducks on lakes such as the Corrib and others.

 

The National Parks and Wildlife Service advertised for tenders for predator control jobs here in the Spring. Mainly targeting mink, but also grey crows and foxes. They are trying to protect various wildlife sanctuaries and other important wildlife areas in different parts of the country.

 

Now, I don't disagree with Duckwing at all in that anything which will kill rats is certainly doing humanity et all a great favour. But, I think mink cause more problems than they solve. Seeing as they're an invasive species I think every last one of them should be returned from whence they came.

 

Just my two cents and not intended to cause any upset to anyone.

[comanche 3,038]

I understand where Duckwing is coming from .

Many years ago I supplied a few mink to a lad who was researching them . I don't know how many mink he actually cut open as he was collecting them from people in several areas .

I've no idea what the outcome of his study was either as once he'd had what he wanted from me he went his own way (I felt so ,so used ) ) I do recall him telling me that previous research indicated that at least a third of the diet was comprised rodents and small mammals but another third was birds -mostly waterfowl. This is no surprise as mink are associated with , er, water .

So a lot of rodents in the diet is in some ways a good thing except that the increasingly rare water-vole is a rodent .

On my local nature reserve and the nearest Wetlands Trust site mink control is considered important for the wellfare of the wildfowl but essential to save water-vole populations . It has to be considered that these institutions are funded by people who might not be sympathetic to killing wild-life in general so for them to come -out against mink is indicative of something.

As Duckwing suggests if you have a rat infested ditch it might be an idea to weigh up the pros and cons of the situation . Maybe let them do their bit for rodent control and strike with the traps before they breed or move on to pastures (duck-ponds ,nature reserves ,poultry runs ,pheasant pens etc )new . But it would be a bit of a balencing act .

Or maybe its not such a good idea . I once caught a mink that had taken up residence in the garden of a big country house in the rockeries of a system of semi-derelict formal ponds . The ponds held no fish and as owner loved the cute little mink and was convinced that it was playing its part in thinning out the rabbits in the garden it was left alone .Things changed when unfortunatly it was also seen to be thinning -out the crested newts that lived in the pools !

Out of interest Duckwing . How much of the gut content of the mink you opened was truly recognisable and making allowances for any trap bait thet might have eaten how many had empty stomachs?

All the best

Edited June 21, 2010 by comanche

[DUCKWING 302]

HI LADS ,

 

 

VERY , VERY FEW OF THE MINK HELD ANY LARGE AMOUNT OF FOOD ... NOW THIS WAS A HARD WINTER , HOWEVER IN THE WINTER THE MAJORITY OF FOOD WAS SMALL FISH FROGS AND MICE ETC ..

 

ABOUT 1 IN 20 OF THE MINK WITH FOOD CONTENT HAD FEATHERS IN THE STOMACH ......

 

2 OUT OF 5 HAD NO FOOD AT ALL IN THE STOMACHS ..........

 

AS A LONG TIME POULTRY KEEPER I UNDERSTOOD THE NEED TO KEEP A TRAPLINE IN SERVICE 365 DAYS A YEAR RUNNING ,.......

 

ITS SURPRIZING HOW MANY DONT !! ........

 

MANY ........ PUT BIRDS INTO PENS THAT ARE UNSUITABLE FOR KEEPING PREDATORS OUT OF THEM OR BIRDS IN THEM ,,,,,

 

REGULARY I GET CALLED IN TO LOCAL POULTRY KEEPERS WHO ARE GETTING TROUBLED .......

 

99 % OF THE TIME ITS DOWN TO THE OWNERS .........

 

VERY , VERY RARELY DO I COME AWAY WITHOUT GIVING OUT INFORMATION ON SORTING THE PENS OUT TO BE VERMIN PROOF ..... INFORMATION THAT WOULD SAVE THE OWNERS MONEY AND HEARTACHE

 

MANY OTHER PREDATORS DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS THE MINK .............. THE STOAT , FOX , PINE MARTIN , FERAL FERRETS , THE OTTER ETC , ETC , ETC

 

YET IT STILL SEEMS THE MINK IS No1 ENEMY IN EVERYONES MINDS

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

[comanche 3,038]

That's the answer I expected Duckwing . Not a lot in the stomachs .Very hard to get a true picture of diet from stomach analysise from animals that are caught whilst hunting because possibly the very fact that they are hunting means that they have not made enough small kills or a single large kill to satisfy their hunger and give a true picture of diet .

I once was lucky enought of see a pair of mink kill two collared doves in as many minutes . The first bird was on the lower edge of a millwheel when a mink popped up from the water and grabbed it. The bird's mate was left standing on the bank about a yard from the water looking a bit peturbed by all this and a second mink appeared from the water . The bird and mink both both froze but the mink moved first ! Whatever one thinks of em mink are great to watch . One minute bobbling along the water's edge ,the next stopping for a quick twitch and glance about before continuing the journey or in a blink slipping into the water to burn off a bit of nervous energy with a quick swim.

All the best

Edited June 22, 2010 by comanche

[MOO 730]

I very much disagree with you Duckwing you just need to look at the damage mink have caused to ground nesting birds on the westcoast of Scotland islands were otters nad rats have habitated before the mink arrived and the real damaged happen after it occupied they islands .

 

mink are very ferioucious predators and very good at what they do ...when I was growing up there were 2 rivers I styaed by a small laid that ran the local water works when I was about 10 this small river was teaming with wildlife ....water voles coots ducks water hens, king fishers...even the king fishers disapeared ...now this stretch of river had a population off otters but the dimise the wildlife did not happen until the mink appeared ....I used to watch the water voles in very healthy number but then the mink appeared and the devastation they caused was unbelievable everything just seem to disapear .... As a kid i started hunting them with my dog and trapping them and after a few years you could see the birds starting to appear but I cannot honestly say if the water voles are back as I donot spend as much time there now but always have a few traps set all the time and still pick up one or 2 a year ....there are a few mallard chicks going about this year that ive seen and the kingfishers have been back for a few years ...i might sit some night this summer and see if i can see if there are any water voles

Along with the crow and magpie they are on my cull list every day of the week if the opertunity arises

Edited June 22, 2010 by MOO

[comanche 3,038]

I think that there is one big arguement against the let mink live theology and MOO has just made it.

Duckwing is right when he writes that livestock keeper's can do more to protect their stock . That of course may includes killing mink as a matter of course . Mink proofing on a large scale might not be easy ,or cheap . I have seen a mink pass through electified chicken mesh unshocked . In fact one of my customer's has an old running duck that survived an attack albeit with a wonky neck because the mink caught it inside the run but could'nt drag it through the meshes of the electric fence . Apparently it only stopped trying when the duck owner chased it away . Yet the fence was tested as being live at that point .

In their homeland mink are associated with ducks . They can seek ducks on land and water and even climb a few feet off the ground . Mink are also small enough to enter the nesting holes of wood duck and water -side rodents . Of course they will take frogs newts and fish -anything vaguely aquatic.

Most of the native predators Duckwing mentions -foxes ,pineys etc- are at a disadvantage when compared with the mink when it comes to adaptability . T he mink is the only one of our predators that is small enough to enter small spaces , climb and hunt both on and under land and water . British wildlife has never encountered such an opportunist predator and as MOO points out there are places where bird colonies and water-voles are being decimated because they are encountering a hunter that they have no defence strategy against .

Unlike duckwing who finds that mink are unfairly blamed for the depredations of other species where he lives the opposite appears true in my area . Foxes get a lot of flak while minky slips under the public's radar.

I totally agree with one of DUCKWING's original comments though. It is not enough that an animal simply be present for us to justify killing it .

Ideally mink would confine themselves to eating other non-native species like rats ,collared doves ,ruddy ducks and carp!.

All the best

Edited June 22, 2010 by comanche

[MOO 730]

give me a nest of rats than a litter of mink on a stretch of water any time

[JohnGalway 1,043]

Have a tiny stream on my land, nothing special, just basicly a ditch sized stream with water up to five inches deap, deeper in some places,Lots of cover and trees on the banks with most waterside wildlife alongside it,My question is i have seen mink padding in a few different spots along the stream and my dogs have been pretty intrested in trees along side the water and roots on the edge, My question is do mink normally live in such small streams ad have fellow trappers ever caught or seen mink on small bits of water?

 

Im sure i read a post a while back by johngalaway who had trapped mink on a very similar sized stream, Im probally in the next few weeks going to drop a few decently placed tunnel traps or cages to see.

 

Just be intresting to here your views?

 

Sorry, I never answered your question directly. The very first stream I ever caught a mink on is no more than a glorified drain really. In a lot of places it wouldn't even be five inches deep, I'm sure with the practical drought we're having in the West that it's dried up at this point in time. If it were me I'd have a speculative punt and try a trap there. There were some very good points brought up in past old mink posts in my threads on siting traps which could be useful.

[JohnGalway 1,043]

AS A LONG TIME POULTRY KEEPER I UNDERSTOOD THE NEED TO KEEP A TRAPLINE IN SERVICE 365 DAYS A YEAR RUNNING ,.......

 

ITS SURPRIZING HOW MANY DONT !! ........

 

MANY ........ PUT BIRDS INTO PENS THAT ARE UNSUITABLE FOR KEEPING PREDATORS OUT OF THEM OR BIRDS IN THEM ,,,,,

 

REGULARY I GET CALLED IN TO LOCAL POULTRY KEEPERS WHO ARE GETTING TROUBLED .......

 

99 % OF THE TIME ITS DOWN TO THE OWNERS .........

 

VERY , VERY RARELY DO I COME AWAY WITHOUT GIVING OUT INFORMATION ON SORTING THE PENS OUT TO BE VERMIN PROOF ..... INFORMATION THAT WOULD SAVE THE OWNERS MONEY AND HEARTACHE

 

MANY OTHER PREDATORS DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS THE MINK .............. THE STOAT , FOX , PINE MARTIN , FERAL FERRETS , THE OTTER ETC , ETC , ETC

 

YET IT STILL SEEMS THE MINK IS No1 ENEMY IN EVERYONES MINDS

 

 

ALL THE BEST

 

 

DUCKWING

 

Agree with you on a lot of owners being at fault in not having proper protection. Certainly Joe, of duck fame, didn't appreciate how the mink could get in. Neither did my mate John, who used an old trawl net to keep foxes out of the hen run - which worked, but the meshes were too big to keep mink out. I'm sure the same can be said for a lot of others too.

 

I know of a young lad on another site, in England I think, and his Dad runs a freerange/organic or some such hen outfit. They had terrible problems with brock bulldozing his was in and having dinner. Naturally brock being protected there was fcuk all they could do about the situation. I suggested digging in weldmesh in the bottom of the fence - they couldn't afford it. For a shed, or for certain small sized outdoor outfits it may be an option but the cost is high.

 

I won't claim to know about all the other species you mention DW but most are native. Mink just isn't, and like most invasive species is having a terrible impact on some native wild life from a diversity/ecological view (did I ever think I'd be saying that...). There's not much else keeping them in check besides trappers/farmers/certain few others.