American mink

It is mostly nocturnal and crepuscular. It uses habitats including streams, rivers, wetlands, marshes and wooded shorelines. It feeds on crayfish, frogs, fish, mice, rats, birds and other small animals.

Mink patrol shorelines, slipping between water and dense bank cover. They swim and dive well but also hunt extensively on land.

Mink move fluently between land and water, using bank burrows, root tangles and hollow logs as shelter.

Mink connect aquatic and terrestrial food webs by eating crayfish, frogs, fish and rodents along wetland edges.

Their oily, dense fur and streamlined body allow repeated cold-water hunting while remaining agile on land.

Mating — mainly late winter.
Delayed implantation — pregnancy includes a variable delay; total gestation is commonly about 40–75 days.
Kits — usually 3–6 are born in a bank den or other sheltered cavity in spring.
Weaning — roughly 6–10 weeks, with juveniles dispersing later in summer.

• Secure poultry with small-mesh fencing and a covered top.
• Remove fishing line and other entangling debris from stream banks.
• Keep dogs from pursuing mink into tight bank cover.
• Avoid outdoor rodenticide because mink can eat poisoned rodents.

• Mink live only in water. They are semi-aquatic and spend substantial time hunting and travelling on land.
• Every dark animal swimming in a creek is an otter. Mink are much smaller and slimmer with a narrower tail.
• Mink attack people readily. They normally avoid people but can defend themselves if cornered.

• long-tailed-weasel
• least-weasel
• North American river otter