Mink - Identification?

tyler71

I've been trying to identify an animal I've seen twice recently locally (in Cork) - about two foot long including tail, with thick black fur, similar shape to a weasel or stoat but bigger than I would have thought either to be (not that I'm an expert). After reading the following article
http://www.irishexaminer.ie/ireland/warning-to-pet-owners-over-threat-from-mink-131010.html I now think they might have been mink, but obviously that's a wild guess. What are the best identifiers to look for, and are mink really as agressive as detailed in the article?

E39MSport

Undesireables by all accounts. (edit. Mink that is)

Did it have a white/creamy throat by any chance? Slightly bushy tail?
Could be a Pine Marten. Population is recovering apparently. I've had the good fortune to see one in my garden.

tyler71

Couldn't see any other colour on it than just black. How big are pine marten?

E39MSport

Cat length. 68 cm from nose to tip of tail. Noticeable creamy throat.

tyler71

Could be alright - I wasn't in a position where I could have seen the throat. Population must be on the rise ok, I saw one run across a back road while walking and the other cross the main road just outside Cork airport while I was driving (wouldn't give much for life expectancy if it keeps on doing that though)

Mothman

I think the article is a bit OTT and is provoking unwarranted hysteria among general public, but there is little else to fault it. It has no place in Ireland.

I have free range hens beside stream. This stream is a natural corridor for mink and I have not lost any hens, and while I have moorhens and grebes, I've noticed less success in breeding compared to a few years ago.
I dispatched 2 mink couple months ago and saw one a few years back.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sounds like a typical description of a Mink from a first time observer.

.223forme

you'd know a pine marten from a mink because its tail is noticably bushier and its a much more chocolate brown colour instead of black like the mink,,as for stoats you can safely rule these out as they're much smaller in size than the other two i.e similar size to a rat but longer

vandriver

Here one I shot

Mink by carl cotter, on Flickr

tororosso

Lovely photo vandriver

dodderangler

Nice photo alright
Still need to rid this country of them though