Mink?

[DonRamos]

At one of my local club lakes there have been sightings of a number of mink.

 

Certain members seem to believe these are dangerous and will attack people?

 

My questions to the board are

 

1) What effect will these have on the fish?

 

2) Are they actually dangerous?

 

I took a rather bad picture of one with my mobile but can't post it as am at work and unable to load onto my computer.

 

They certainally weren't scared of us when we were checking the bankside for them the other night. They swam right up to the shallows and had a good look at us.

 

Any info on Mink from the experts here at Anglersnet would be great.

 

Thankingyouinadvance

[DavyR]

The main thing I've got against mink is that they scoff water voles, which are becoming endangered anyway. It's highly unlikely that one would attack a human, although they'll obviously bite if cornered. They will eat fish, although not as efficiently as otters.

Round my way, misguided animal libbers have released lots into the wild - why are these people always apparently clueless about the real effects of their actions on the environment?

[Tog]

M ean

I nquisitive

N asty

K ritter

 

Before St T jumped into bed with the anti’s and farming an animal purely for it’s fur was banned, some of their ‘freedom fighters’ released a few hundred locally.

Oh very clever that was!

Seemed the local cat population suffered most and then poultry keepers and pond owners. We had quite a few on local lakes and they were trapped over the next few weeks – they seemed quite keen on halibut pellets.

I saw one last year on a small lake with a decent eel in it’s chops - which may explain their decline.

If you’ve got a family around they will scoff a lot of fish and can be aggressive if cornered.

Let the EA know & they should trap ‘em for you, or you can do it yourself with a squirrel trap, then you’ve got yourself a nice steering wheel cover or muff as a bonus.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Used to be loads of the little buggers about Glasgow but it would seem they are not doing very well these days. There are a few Otters about now though. Perhaps the Mink simply can't compete.

I know which of the two I'd rather see about the banks. For the sake of a few fish, the Otters can stay.

[DonRamos]

Do they REALLY need trapping?

 

Will have to get onto the club secretary if that is the case.

[Chris Plumb]

Mink can be a real menace - there's been a concerted effort to trap them on an SSSI near where I live as they were wiping out the bird life and voles. Vole are making a bit of a come-back here so it seems to be working. I've seen a Mink and 3 kits frollicking in a weirpool - didn't seem to show too much fear of me - in fact some time later one tried to nick my luncheon meat. A few years ago Paul and I were piking (deadbaiting) when a mink surfaced in his swim with his deadbait in his mouth. Thankfully it dropped it and wasn't hooked - Don't think I'd have offered to help him to deal with it if he had hooked it!!!

 

C.

[phil dean]

get mink round me, and otters, but the otters are definatly the winner, i've seen mink in a pool for weeks, never to be seen again once a dog otter came snooping round.

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

not had many mettingfs with mink,

i did once see one whilst piking last winter, on an essex backwater,i thought it was an otter at first.

after talking about it to my mate we came to the decision that its was a mink,being to small for an otter.

 

about half an hour later,about 200yards up river i caught this perch on live roach,look at the state of it...i believe thats what they are capable of. top tail lobe has bin bitten off,top dorsal is smashed into two or three parts,also has nasty marks on its flank,and i belive it was holding some spawn,possibly making it an easy meal that it didnt quite fancy.

 

 

[ 20. July 2005, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: Ratty Fitzpatrick46 ]

[Andy Macfarlane]

Poor old perch...

[chesters1]

the first signs are missing birds ,fewer ducks that fly off as if there scared whitless,those moorhen that you had disapear etc.

stranger though is the apearence of crows ,crows arnt stupid i seen them watching a mink and following it if the mink makes a kill they wait till the minks finished and have the rest of the fish, being unable to carry fish of any size you will find either a whole load of scales or nothing more than a collection of bones and head (if a fox doesent spot it) mink will go to cover to eat the fish if its afraid and revisit to finish the meal ,crows spotting the meal (after watching the mink) will drag it into the open (its safer as they can spot a predator) and eat it there.

mink tend to patrol an area along the waters edge and take freshly dead or dying fish before they waste energy catching their own ,i'v even seen one scare of a heron to get its fish but have also seen a heron defend itself ,they use their beaks like a sword and try to stab the mink ,if the mink is just patroling i expect it will just back off ,if its hungry i suspect the heron will.

mink wont attack (one in a cage will bluff and hiss and try and bite as a defence) but they can and do get less wary of humans if the anglers cant be bothered to scare them off .

if on my rounds i spot a crow (we have at least one that patrols the lake all the time)i look for scales on the ground ,most times its the crow thats found a dead fish and dragged it onto the bank to eat it (i'v seen a crow land in the water to get a dead fish and struggle to the bank)but if the amount of scales amounts to more than i think "naturally " dead fish occur then the traps are opened

i dont keep the traps open all the time as they catch rabbits and magpies to and a scared squirrel holds on tight to the bars and refuse to politely run out when the door is opened

 

[ 20. July 2005, 08:26 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]