Killer Mink In Limerick!!!

Grizzly 45

This has to be the most idiotic,scare mongering stupidest piece of journalism ever written by a subject relating to hunting or the wilds.Limerick Post and Limerick enviromental planning have now offically lost the plot.
Mods,please leave up for some humour before moving to the Press clippings.We really could do with a Humour sticky here as well.
Grizzly.



[by Marie Hobbins [/COLOR]Thursday, 16 September 2010 08:37 POLICE your pets, was the warning issued this week to animal lovers.
Horses, dogs, cats, birds and fish and other animals are under threat from a new strain of killer that takes no prisoners. A number of casualties have already been reported. So serious is the situation that City Council is drawing up an action policy to tackle the hordes of mink, before the predators make further inroads.
The city manager has been made aware of the situation and councillors have been informed that the mink, which are not natural to Ireland, have been attacking and killing birds, fish and animals.
“They have a devastating effect on all wildlife - but they also attack dogs and horses . They don’t run in packs but already they have wiped out flocks of coot and moorhead. Birdwatch Ireland is very worried about the effect they have had on ground nesting birds,” Sean Griffin, a member of the Environmental Strategic Policy Committee, told a meeting of the City Council’s Environmental Committee.
“These mink have to be trapped and eradicated and I’m very glad that our fishermen will be brought in on this as the mink could wipe out our salmon stocks as well - we’ll hardly see one leaping upstream this year”.
Informing his colleagues that in captivity the mink’s coat is brown, and is black when they are free to roam, Mr Griffin described minks as killers.
“Water hens on our river banks are nearly all gone, because of the mink - they will have to be exterminated.
“I know of one man who lives on the Mill Road, Corbally, and is an expert on the river and its wildlife - he was stunned to recently find that ducks, water hens and other species that regularly came up to his riverside house were found to have been killed by the mink”.
City Hall executive, Paul Foley, said that the provision of finance for an eradication programme would be a hurdle.
“Eradication is not cheap but we will, though, be drafting a policy for their control as a priority.”


PS Can I have my semi auto rifle now CS???I'm gonna need it to deal with these voracious beasties when the come calling?? Next stop the Limerick enviromental crowd to do my "Quint" offer.[as in Jaws chacter]

Sparks

Hey, on the upside, at least they're finally taking on board that the ALF did noone any favours by releasing mink from farms...

jap gt

iv yet to see a mink attack a horse :rolleyes:

Rovi

Item posted in the Press Clippings thread, thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Here's a link to the original article:
http://www.limerickpost.ie/index.php/navigation-mainmenu-30/local-news/2269-war-waged-on-killer-mink.html


They have a picture of the fearsome beast:

johngalway

They reportedly killed hoggets in North Connemara last year. Horses though, take something awful sweet to make me swallow that.

johngalway

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

“Eradication is not cheap but we will, though, be drafting a policy for their control as a priority.”

Put a bounty on them country wide. How hard is that to get.

There are plenty of unnecessary bills of the Governments own creation, I bet there are still plenty of dumb leases for Decentralisation that'll never happen and overly generous storage contracts out there that could be trimmed. €50,000 would go an awful long way.



(Obviously not directed at you Griz).

jap gt

your dead right jg, even something small would get fellas out after them, lots of unemployed/retired hunters out there

johnmcdnl

Minks would cause havoc if they got in near chickens - I know that for sure but I somehow doubt they'd kill a horse somehow...

They are vicious feckers of yokes though and would take a lamb easily and hoggets possibly... but a horse - well it'd want to be a half dead shetland pony foal in all fairness....

jap gt

they were blamed for eating the troat of a dying calf around here, no proof it was like but i wouldn't but it past them

lofty95

im surprised they havent blamed the worldwide recession on the mink cos they seem to be capable of anything

daveob007

is that Willie O Deas new disguise????

jap gt

going by that article they will be attacking babys in their beds next

dicky82

lads would you find mink on canals or are they more likely to be near shallow rivers? the canal near me has some fish in it, but it gets very deep very quickliy would a mink hunt like an otter? thanks

jap gt

dicky82 wrote: »

lads would you find mink on canals or are they more likely to be near shallow rivers? the canal near me has some fish in it, but it gets very deep very quickliy would a mink hunt like an otter? thanks

its possible, local farmer told me he saw one killing a rabbit one morning, he is 4-5 miles from the nearest river or stream, so anywhere there is food in a river/stream they are likely to be

lofty95

dicky82 wrote: »

lads would you find mink on canals or are they more likely to be near shallow rivers? the canal near me has some fish in it, but it gets very deep very quickliy would a mink hunt like an otter? thanks

they are generalist feeders so anything goes as regards food. They are semi aqautic so you will find them along canals.

homerhop

You will find mink anywhere there is water, I have seen them hunt along railway lines a mile away from water.

LostCovey

johngalway wrote: »

They reportedly killed hoggets in North Connemara last year.

That's hilarious John. Would anyone believe that????

LostCovey

Sparks

daveob007 wrote: »

is that Willie O Deas new disguise????

More likely his new mustache...

Grizzly 45

Hmm,generally mink are small critters.Now with the "Limerick Super Mink" being the equivlent of the "Beast of Craggy Island.":rolleyes:.I reckon two or three of these when brought to book and skinned will sort out making lovely mink fur coats for the ladies in our lives.:D:D.

Funny old way Karma can work betimes.Mink make fur coats,look great on a sexy girl,who wears it,animal terrs take umbrage,feck can of paint on the fur coat,coat ruined,animal rights Terrs release mink from farms in to wild,we trap and kill mink,skin mink[s?plural??],sell them to furrier,furrier makes nice mink coat,sexy girl buys ...And the cycle begins again.:D:D:pac:

Taking a horse or a sheep..Utter.Hogwash!!!A dog,maybe a Chiuwuwa[sic] with a terminal case of old age.:rolleyes: Any Terrier worthy of the name will make mincemeat of a mink,ferrett or stoat or rat.

Dont be too hard on ol Willie,at least he of all the local politicos in Limerick did try to fight our corner with the handgun ban when he was a minister,and was intrested in coming out to try his hand at pistol shooting...Obviously to brush up on his gunhandling saftey first!!!:eek::eek::D

jap gt

LostCovey wrote: »

That's hilarious John. Would anyone believe that????

LostCovey

if they killed a calf, they could kill a hogget that got caught in a drain or was sick, altough it is unlikely that they could kill it outright, maybe fed after it had died, i saw one that had its back leg caught in a fenn trap fight back two terriers, they were terrified of it after a few bites from the mink

LostCovey

jap gt wrote: »

if they killed a calf, they could kill a hogget that got caught in a drain or was sick, altough it is unlikely that they could kill it outright, maybe fed after it had died, i saw one that had its back leg caught in a fenn trap fight back two terriers, they were terrified of it after a few bites from the mink

Well he said "hoggets" plural. I find the calf story equally unbelievable to be honest. Don't get me wrong I am not defending them, I have killed a couple, and I can't stand them. They have cleaned out my hen house at least once. However this idea that these normally solitary mustelids have the killing potential of a pack of wolves is hardly credible.

LostCovey

jap gt

LostCovey wrote: »

Well he said "hoggets" plural. I find the calf story equally unbelievable to be honest. Don't get me wrong I am not defending them, I have killed a couple, and I can't stand them. They have cleaned out my hen house at least once. However this idea that these normally solitary mustelids have the killing potential of a pack of wolves is hardly credible.

LostCovey

it was posted in the farming section that the killed someones sick calf aswell, i heard it from a good source i have no reason to doubt it

Grizzly 45

Think what you might find is the mink draining blood from the weak or dying animal.They could do that all right.But actually running down pinning and killing a healthy sheep or calf. Tarus Excretum

LostCovey

jap gt wrote: »

it was posted in the farming section that the killed someones sick calf aswell, i heard it from a good source i have no reason to doubt it

I can't argue with a source.

However you have to use your own logic when you hear a tale like that.

And the truth is that most bite injuries to animals suspected of being killed by mink are actually caused by brown rats. They generally go for soft skin (mouth, udder, rear end) and can make surprisingly big wounds.

LC

deerhunter1

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

This has to be the most idiotic,scare mongering stupidest piece of journalism ever written by a subject relating to hunting or the wilds.Limerick Post and Limerick enviromental planning have now offically lost the plot.
Mods,please leave up for some humour before moving to the Press clippings.We really could do with a Humour sticky here as well.
Grizzly.



[by Marie Hobbins [/COLOR]Thursday, 16 September 2010 08:37 POLICE your pets, was the warning issued this week to animal lovers.
Horses, dogs, cats, birds and fish and other animals are under threat from a new strain of killer that takes no prisoners. A number of casualties have already been reported. So serious is the situation that City Council is drawing up an action policy to tackle the hordes of mink, before the predators make further inroads.
The city manager has been made aware of the situation and councillors have been informed that the mink, which are not natural to Ireland, have been attacking and killing birds, fish and animals.
“They have a devastating effect on all wildlife - but they also attack dogs and horses . They don’t run in packs but already they have wiped out flocks of coot and moorhead. Birdwatch Ireland is very worried about the effect they have had on ground nesting birds,” Sean Griffin, a member of the Environmental Strategic Policy Committee, told a meeting of the City Council’s Environmental Committee.
“These mink have to be trapped and eradicated and I’m very glad that our fishermen will be brought in on this as the mink could wipe out our salmon stocks as well - we’ll hardly see one leaping upstream this year”.
Informing his colleagues that in captivity the mink’s coat is brown, and is black when they are free to roam, Mr Griffin described minks as killers.
“Water hens on our river banks are nearly all gone, because of the mink - they will have to be exterminated.
“I know of one man who lives on the Mill Road, Corbally, and is an expert on the river and its wildlife - he was stunned to recently find that ducks, water hens and other species that regularly came up to his riverside house were found to have been killed by the mink”.
City Hall executive, Paul Foley, said that the provision of finance for an eradication programme would be a hurdle.
“Eradication is not cheap but we will, though, be drafting a policy for their control as a priority.”


PS Can I have my semi auto rifle now CS???I'm gonna need it to deal with these voracious beasties when the come calling?? Next stop the Limerick enviromental crowd to do my "Quint" offer.[as in Jaws chacter]

I woud not go as far as say that the "Man" in the mill road is an "expert" far from it, I would say that more wildlife has been destroyed (malllard) with all the in breeding & cross breeding that has gone on down there (I'm talking about the wildlife:p). Typical with "Sanctuaries" like this is that they are a sanctuary for everything including vermin (mink etc.) and you cannot go in there to control them.:mad:

ormondprop

if a ewe went on her back i can quarantee they would kill her seeing that even magpies can manage it, but saying that if a ewe or hogget is on its back its going to die anyway unless something helps her, but i cant for the life of me see a mink killing a horse unless its already f##ked and in that case it would really only speeding up the time it takes for it to die.

on the other hand if mink are strong enough to kill a horse it might be enough reason for me to be allowed have a .338 or similar rifle, can't go soft on these killer mink they might wipe out our whole farm:rolleyes:

Birdnuts

Anything that encourages people to kill mink in this country is to be encouraged:)

Birdnuts

LostCovey wrote: »

That's hilarious John. Would anyone believe that????

LostCovey

I would go with John on this since I beleive the Dept of Agri investigated the matter:)

jap gt

Birdnuts wrote: »

Anything that encourages people to kill mink in this country is to be encouraged:)

i had killed 8 in two months until a local made a hoop out of all my traps, hope to get back trapping in next few weeks, it would surprise you how many are out there

LostCovey

Birdnuts wrote: »

I would go with John on this since I beleive the Dept of Agri investigated the matter:)

<mod snip>

Mod translation: Could you give me a link to that please?

ormondprop

LostCovey wrote: »

That's hilarious John. Would anyone believe that????

LostCovey

have you ever worked on a sheep farm, they could easily kill a sheep

Birdnuts

jap gt wrote: »

it would surprise you how many are out there

Indeed - It depresses me deeply that the Blessington lakes are infested with them:(

LostCovey

ormondprop wrote: »

have you ever worked on a sheep farm, they could easily kill a sheep

Yes I have.

No they could not kill a sheep.

Maybe a newborn lamb.

LC

jap gt

as johng said and i think everyone will agree a bounty is the only way to keep the numbers down, but even with that i doubt we will ever be rid of them

LostCovey

ormondprop wrote: »

if a ewe went on her back i can quarantee they would kill her seeing that even magpies can manage it, but saying that if a ewe or hogget is on its back its going to die anyway unless something helps her, but i cant for the life of me see a mink killing a horse unless its already f##ked and in that case it would really only speeding up the time it takes for it to die.

on the other hand if mink are strong enough to kill a horse it might be enough reason for me to be allowed have a .338 or similar rifle, can't go soft on these killer mink they might wipe out our whole farm:rolleyes:

Essentially you are saying that a mink is as dangerous as a crow or a magpie. No argument with that, but then you & I will never make it as cutting edge journalists on the Limerick Post,

LostCovey

Birdnuts

LostCovey wrote: »

<mod snip>

Mod translation: Could you give me a link to that please?

I read about it in the Times last year but can't remember the exact date:(

Rovi

There's no way on <insert deity of choice>'s little green earth that a mink, or even any reasonably conceivable group of mink (even zombie ones) could kill a healthy and mobile calf or sheep, let alone a horse.
At least, not in the conventional 'predation' way we think of foxes killing pheasants or lions killing antelope.
I would however, accept the premise that they might 'finish off' a sick/injured/immobilised large animal, but it'd be as a consequence of their attacking the soft tissues (eyes/tongue/udder/belly/etc) and the unfortunate victim then dying of exsanguination* or shock.



*I too watch CSI

Birdnuts

jap gt wrote: »

as johng said and i think everyone will agree a bounty is the only way to keep the numbers down, but even with that i doubt we will ever be rid of them

Indeed - just as their should be a bounty on foxes, hoodies, magpies and grey squirrles. Not gonna happen though cos the clowns in charge have bankrupted the country FTFF:mad:

ormondprop

crows can kill sheep so i'm sure they can, if a terrier could kill one of our ewes before why couldn't a mink.
an area near me had a several lambs even lambs that were a good few weeks old killed, bodies were left with no heads or throats ripped open, they reckoned it was mink as a few lads caught a few around there at the same time so if strong lambs can be killed i'm sure ewes and hoggets can be too,
the father always said the only good mink is a dead one

jap gt

LostCovey wrote: »

Yes I have.

No they could not kill a sheep.

Maybe a newborn lamb.

LC

best wait until john g comes on he might have more info, its highly unlikely that the could kill anything bigger than a rabbit, unless the animal was sick/dying

Birdnuts

ormondprop wrote: »

crows can kill sheep so i'm sure they can, if a terrier could kill one of our ewes before why couldn't a mink.
an area near me had a several lambs even lambs that were a good few weeks old killed, bodies were left with no heads or throats ripped open, they reckoned it was mink as a few lads caught a few around there at the same time so if strong lambs can be killed i'm sure ewes and hoggets can be too,
the father always said the only good mink is a dead one

I wonder would it be possible to breed a terrier or to train otter hounds or some other breed to target mink??

PS: My spaniel/collie X has got a few in her time:D

jap gt

Birdnuts wrote: »

I wonder would it be possible to breed a terrier or to train otter hounds or some other breed to target mink??

PS: My spaniel/collie X has got a few in her time:D

i remember reading somewhere that they use otter hounds and airedales to hunt them in england

LostCovey

jap gt wrote: »

i remember reading somewhere that they use otter hounds and airedales to hunt them in england

I am going to bed, my head is spinning with new information.

How could anyone sacrifice their Airedale to a beast that can kill horses?

This is madness, I tell you.

LostCovey

Grizzly 45

Birdnuts wrote: »

I would go with John on this since I beleive the Dept of Agri investigated the matter:)

They are great at investigating things..BUT VERY Sloooowww to issue reports for some odd reason!!We are all still waiting their investigation of the mysterious black panthers in Donegal for what now 3to4 years??How long does it take to look at some suspected Panther kitty litter and sagely pronounce it as big cat poo or not???
So Iwouldnt be holding my breath for a pronouncement on the zombie mink of Limerick,before we all have died of old age that is...:rolleyes:

And dont forget ICABS has a petition to save the cute and cuddly mink from being hunted with hounds too.After all these bad temperd little[or large] rodents are cute and cuddly and innocent tooo.
:(:(
Now must away to load the Glock and Pump,and sharpen my Smatchett and barricade myself in doors lest the Zombie mink attack tonight:rolleyes:.I live close to the Shannon ,so if I dont post within the next 24/48 hours,you will know what happened.But I'll have taken a dozen at least with me.:D:D

vixdname

The feckin Mink in my neck of the woods are getting so intelligent that they've recently set up a new "Singles" magazine where they can meet up and mate - check it out !

johngalway

Thank you Birdnuts.

LC, perhaps you should tone down the bluster when replying to something you know little about.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7306:connemara-sheep-farmers-plague-by-savage-minks&catid=23&Itemid=46

(If it's not clear in the next link, search for "mink").
http://issuu.com/connemaraview/docs/august_2009_connemara_view

Now, you have your links, you have the womans name, go conduct your own investigation. Your location reads Connemara, if you're in the real Connemara West of Oorid lake you're not far from Letterfrack. You can also find out the name of the ecologist who trapped mink on Lamb island and go ask her about mink.

lofty95

jap gt wrote: »

as johng said and i think everyone will agree a bounty is the only way to keep the numbers down, but even with that i doubt we will ever be rid of them

i think that is all you would ever be able to do is keep the numbers down. They are territorial by nature and when one is taken out there usually is a juvenile waiting to take over the area. Sometime in the 80s there was a npws distribution study and they came to the conclusion that now at this stage eradication wouldnt be possible and that they are just now part of the flora and fauna of ireland. Maybe if fur coats came back into fashion we might have a chance of getting rid of the bastards and have something monetary to show for the havoc that they have caused

LostCovey

johngalway wrote: »

Thank you Birdnuts.

LC, perhaps you should tone down the bluster when replying to something you know little about.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7306:connemara-sheep-farmers-plague-by-savage-minks&catid=23&Itemid=46

(If it's not clear in the next link, search for "mink").
http://issuu.com/connemaraview/docs/august_2009_connemara_view

Now, you have your links, you have the womans name, go conduct your own investigation. Your location reads Connemara, if you're in the real Connemara West of Oorid lake you're not far from Letterfrack. You can also find out the name of the ecologist who trapped mink on Lamb island and go ask her about mink.

Oops, apologies John, didn't mean to cross any line here.

No offensive tone was intended, and indeed any bluster was accidental and borne of enthusiasm for the subject. The idea of a mink killing a sheep is so absurd, that I really thought you were citing it as an example of the gullibility of some people.

However, I won't be told how little I know about the subject by someone who appears defensive of this type of belief. I have a fair bit of experience of sheep and of mink, as it happens. Next time you handle a dead mink, look at its size and its teeth, and consider how realistic it would be to kill a sheep, dog or horse with that gear.

I have briefly considered chasing down the source of this story but I may as well go for the bigger story, and try to verify the juicier tale of the horse-killing dog-slaughtering mink of the County Limerick. I won't try to do either, as I have a life.

Because (no disrespect or blustering of Ms Lacey, or her personal beliefs or yours intended here) I think it unlikely that she has any more proof than you or the author of the Limerick Post piece have.

No amount of citing people who believe it, or reports in papers of that kind will convince me otherwise. It's not hard to get proof that foxes kill lambs, or that Grey Crows will remove eyes from a ewe stuck on her back. There is not a shred of proof for this belief, because it is without foundation.

Everyone who falls for an urban (rural?) myth feels a little foolish, and I have to admit I have been gullible on occasion myself - but the sheer improbability of this one puts it beyond the pale. In my opinion, and with maximum respect for anyone who thinks it is real, this is self-evidently incredible.

But then again I did not believe in the moving statues either when they were being reported as news by the same type of papers.

LostCovey

LostCovey

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

They are great at investigating things..BUT VERY Sloooowww to issue reports for some odd reason!!We are all still waiting their investigation of the mysterious black panthers in Donegal for what now 3to4 years??How long does it take to look at some suspected Panther kitty litter and sagely pronounce it as big cat poo or not???
So Iwouldnt be holding my breath for a pronouncement on the zombie mink of Limerick,before we all have died of old age that is...:rolleyes:

This thread is just amazing.

Which section of the Department of Agriculture does the cat scat identification?

I presume its at the opposite end of the building from the headage (BOOM BOOM!!!!!).

Seriously, where in the Dept of Agriculture is that service offered and staffed, and how do they become experts at it?


LostCovey

LostCovey

Birdnuts wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by LostCovey
<mod snip>

Mod translation: Could you give me a link to that please?
I read about it in the Times last year but can't remember the exact date

Thanks for that Birdnuts.

Well maybe someone who has an online subscription to the Toimes archives would be good enough to search for this story. Because this will be a world exclusive if someone has proven that mink can kill sheep.

To bad I cancelled my IT sub in favour of a lifetime subscription to the Limerick Post.

Bugger.


LC

LostCovey

johngalway wrote: »

Your location reads Connemara, if you're in the real Connemara West of Oorid lake you're not far from Letterfrack.

Nope, John, I was born about eight miles east of Oorid Lough, so I guess I am from way back east.

I will amend my profile accordingly, thanks for putting me right.

So I will have to take your word that there is an ecologist with proof they are on Lamb island, because I am not sure how that will advance the discussion.

LC.