Mink: More Than a Mere Furball

MATT SCHUTH • NATURALIST

The mink could be described as a ball of fur in perpetual motion as it darts in and out of the sedges and cattails of a watery shoreline in a seemingly endless pursuit of its next meal. Its elongated body and short legs give it the look of a live Slinky®. The mink’s coat of rich, brown dense underfur and darker guard hairs with a distinctive white chin patch has a sleek and shimmering sheen. Historically, mink fur has had the highest value compared to any of its fur-bearing relatives.

As a member of the weasel family, the mink shares similar physical features. Clambering through forest and wetland, its track looks like a two-step where the front and hind feet become superimposed as if it were an animal with only two feet. It has anal scent glands used for marking territory and sexual attraction. The smell of this scent is said to be unusually strong and unpleasant – even more so than the striped skunk.

Mink are surplus killers that will cache the extra food for later meals. Mink prey on mice, voles, rabbits, crayfish and especially muskrats. Delayed implantation of a fertilized egg up to a month allows the female to give birth at the optimum time when food is plentiful, giving the young the best chance of survival. The female usually bears four kits.

Mink are active year-round. In winter, a small round hole in the ice is a sign that a mink is present. They make their dens in fallen logs, holes in river banks or sometimes drain tiles. This summer a family of mink took up residence in one of the drain tiles along Green Heron Pond at the Arboretum. It was a delight to see!

In lore and myth, the mink was considered to be a trickster and troublemaker often with lewd overtones. However, it was also considered to be a lucky animal that brought success in hunting and fishing.

The Anishinaabe people associated it with medicine and carried medicine bags made of mink skin. The Innu people of Canada called the mink “Earth Diver” because it was the only animal that could go to the bottom of the ocean and bring up land that the creator made the Earth with. In folklore, the mink will guide us through our dreams and give us a joy for life. What better gift could anyone receive?

Cover photo by Erik Karits