My Mink Fang's Big Canine Teeth!

[Minkenry 1,044]

Do ye mink mingle with each other, are they social? Have ye bred a litter yet?

 

I've had a couple mink who get along well together, but most just fight incessantly. I haven't spent much effort trying to socialize them to be honest. It's easier (and much much MUCH safer) to just house and hunt them separately. I am planing on one day down the road breeding my Fang mink to a wild buck, and then keep one or two of her kits with her so they stay social with each other, and then try and hunt them together. One of the main reasons being, I'd love to see how a mother mink teaches her offspring to hunt!

 

Yes I have produced my own litter before, but I actually have had very poor success with most of my breeding attempts. Getting mink to breed can be tricky, either that or I just really suck at it! LOL Here's the first litter I ever produced. The only female out of this litter was kept by my friend Cade (he owned the mother), and was a real handful, but an awesome hunter! I was kinda jealous I let him have her, as she was too much mink for him to handle, but just what I would have liked to have myself! The father of this litter was selected because he was VERY aggressive, yet also really nice to train, and easy to handle (once the beast was finally tamed down) but his daughter only inherited his aggression and none of his handle ability! ha ha ha I still wish I had kept her though, as I'm pretty good at dealing with nasty mink, it's the ones that don't have the fire I like for hunting that bother me! Here's a couple videos of that first litter that I was just describing....

 

https://youtu.be/ZR5RKa6-MTA

 

https://youtu.be/8svW8lnQPnY

Edited January 13, 2017 by Minkenry

[Minkenry 1,044]

I like the way you give a thorough detailed answer! What you do is very similar to what we do here with ferrets but you have prey that actually fight back and use an animal that is classed as vermin and a pest! I find it fascinating and totally intriguing! I find from your posts you are passionate and extremely proficient at what you do! Look forward to your next installment ATB

 

Thanks Yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with the whole mink thing! ha ha ha Along with my faith and family, it is one of my deepest passions in life! Back when I was a teenager I was equally obsessed with falconry, and I'd like to practice that sport again some day, but for now I'm just far too wrapped up in mink! Maybe when I retire, and have more time on my hands, I'll try to juggle both sports

Edited January 13, 2017 by Minkenry

[NEWKID 27,691]

Very interesting read Minkenry, you've certainly got the cogs clicking for a few members on here, myself included!

[Minkenry 1,044]

Very interesting read Minkenry, you've certainly got the cogs clicking for a few members on here, myself included!

 

Thanks, yeah it's pretty interesting stuff, that's for sure! It's supper complex though, but that's what keeps it all interesting for me. It's a lot like Falconry, except that I have to figure things out myself, as there weren't other people with mink hunting experience that I could learn from. Now that there are a few other people out there hunting with mink, it's fun learning from each other, but I still have to figure out a lot of things myself. One challenging and very interesting thing about working with mink is how each mink has such a surprisingly different personality. So different in fact that it sometimes seems like two mink are two totally different species! I've seen mink so bold they kill full grown feral cats, or won't even hesitate to attack a 50 lbs dog...

 

https://youtu.be/ackawjdDgYA

 

And I've also seen several mink so timid they won't even touch a harmless domestic rabbit! One particular timid mink I have named Rio will only kill the juvenile or baby brown rats in a collony, refusing to even confront the adult rats! My gosh even a FERRET will do that!!! I even once saw Rio BOLT AWAY from out of a brown rat hole, trying to escape a LONE adult rat!!!!

 

I've seen several wild adult mink that were so calm and confident they basically tamed themselves hours after being trapped, and could be handled without gloves from day one, as long as you didn't scare them (Not scaring them being the key! It's not like you could just reach down and pick them up like a ferret, you had to let them come to you, or reach toward them in a non threatening manner). On the other extreme I've seen mink raised on a farm their whole life, who were so fearful of humans that they never completely trusted you, regardless of the work you put into them.

 

I've seen mink who after being tamed were trustworthy and gentle with everyone, and others who bonded closely with one person, and viciously attacked all others.

 

I've heard of people catching a baby mink they saw running along a stream with its mother, and taking it home only to have the little mink kit kill two of their "big tough working hobs". On the other extreme I've heard of people who have had their pet mink bullied by their ferrets, and even one ferreter who claimed his working ferret killed a mink it found in a rabbit warren!

 

What I'm getting at is, when it comes to mink, you never know just what you're going to get! That is part of the fun and challenge of working with mink. A method that works well with one mink, might be totally useless with a different mink! Certain training principles apply to almost all mink (ALMOST being the key word), but the actual application of those principles, and other finer details, might be completely different depending on the individual mink.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Minkenry