Mink?

fission

We live just outside the city centre, about 1km from the nearest river/canal, (as the crow flies).
Yesterday I saw a rat shuffling about in our back yard. Disgusting right?

Five minutes later I look out and got a fright when I saw what I think is a mink....
Is it a mink?

I know they are an alien species and do lots of damage to native species, however I can't help thinking that the mink might be nicer to have around our backyard than rats.

Photos are quite small...but he's in there....

cuddlycavies

Yep Mink. Dreadful things. Killing machines

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

That is a Mink alright. It may take an odd rat but boy will it wipe out the birds and small mammals in a considerable area.

hfallada

There are plenty of them in Dublin 9/11. I know someone who's chickens were all killed by mink one night. They asked a few farmers on the road who were certain it was a mink and not a fox.

They are horrible animals but animal rights people thought they were doing the right thing freeing them into the wild.

Birdnuts

Its a disgrace how DCC have allowed invasive species like Grey Squirrels and Mink to take over the city's parks and waterways to the detriment of native fauna:mad: The parks and OPW staff should be actively trapping both species!!

Kess73

fission wrote: »

We live just outside the city centre, about 1km from the nearest river/canal, (as the crow flies).
Yesterday I saw a rat shuffling about in our back yard. Disgusting right?

Five minutes later I look out and got a fright when I saw what I think is a mink....
Is it a mink?

I know they are an alien species and do lots of damage to native species, however I can't help thinking that the mink might be nicer to have around our backyard than rats.

Photos are quite small...but he's in there....

Would sooner have the rats tbh.

At least with rats the rest of your local eco system will find a natural balance. But with a mink there, well pretty much everything from large insects to duck or rabbit sized animals will be targetted.

Kess73

hfallada wrote: »

There are plenty of them in Dublin 9/11. I know someone who's chickens were all killed by mink one night. They asked a few farmers on the road who were certain it was a mink and not a fox.

They are horrible animals but animal rights people thought they were doing the right thing freeing them into the wild.

That kind of surplus killing of poultry sounds more like a stoat than a mink tbh. Not saying mink won't surplus kill at times, but generally a mink (when it gets amongst poultry) will target, kill, and eat one bird rather than kill all present whereas a stout will be more inclined to slaughter every bird there.


As for the animal rights folk who freed large numbers of mink and as a result caused the widespread slaughter of many native species, I think it fair to say that they smack of being pretty damn ignorant of basic knowledge of the animal they were protesting about, and showed no care at all about the rights of the native species in this country.

Capercaille

Get somebody to trap it (humane trap).

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Capercaille wrote: »

Get somebody to trap it (humane trap).

The only problem is that mink don't hold a defined home territory as such and can travel 5km or more each day. I would be interested to hear if this particular one is in the OPs garden on a regular basis.

SparkySpitfire

Can they kill cats? I've never seen one before and didn't actually know they could be found in gardens! Would be interested to know though.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Vojera

Phoenix wrote: »

Are they vicious towards humans?

Dunno about adults but I'd be wary of them around kids. But that's purely because I grew up near a mink farm and we were always told to go inside when we saw them. Maybe it was overprotective, I can't see why they'd go near a person.

OpenYourEyes

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Can they kill cats? I've never seen one before and didn't actually know they could be found in gardens! Would be interested to know though.

In theory they probably could (though they'd be the underdog in that fight), but it's very unlikely that they'd bother an adult cat - no real benefit to killing a cat when you can just kill/eat the rodents/birds etc that are in the area, and attacking a cat carries a signficant risk of the mink getting itself killed - the costs/risks far outweigh the benefits so the mink wouldn't bother!

That's the kind of evolutionary cost/benefit analysis that all wildlife takes into consideration every day of their lives.


(obviously if a cat attacked it, it'd fight back if it couldn't escape, but thats different..)

Phoenix wrote: »

Are they vicious towards humans?

Would more than likely run away if it saw you (see the cost/benefit thing above), but if you tried to pick it up or pet it then yes you'd come out rather badly out of that.....but that'd be your fault, not the minks :P

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Domestic cats and humans are generally in no danger from Mink. They are wary animals and would prefer not to risk a fight with a cat - the other great destroyer of our native wildlife.
They will stand and watch humans but wouldn't hang around if approached.

Kess73

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Can they kill cats? I've never seen one before and didn't actually know they could be found in gardens! Would be interested to know though.

Younger cats (12 months or younger) they can kill and it would not be as uneven a tussle as the cat's size would suggest. A fully grown and experienced cat would be heavily favoured to kill a mink almost every time but would most likely take a a share of damage in doing so. They can also do a lot of damage (in relation to their size) to an adult dog as well, especially less experienced or smaller breed dogs, but would come off second best pretty much everytime against any dog save for the toy species.

They can be surprisingly aggressive towards cats at times despite being a wary animal, especially if the mink has depleted the food supply in that area, but the mink will not attack for the sake of it.


In terms of wild animals, not many native species will go out of their way to kill a mink, although a few would be capable of doing so. If what happens in the UK is any guide, then the otter is the species that is the least tolerant of mink and the one most likely to actively chase down and kill mink.

dodderangler

Kess73 wrote: »

That kind of surplus killing of poultry sounds more like a stoat than a mink tbh. Not saying mink won't surplus kill at times, but generally a mink (when it gets amongst poultry) will target, kill, and eat one bird rather than kill all present whereas a stout will be more inclined to slaughter every bird there.


.

From the est of my knowledge and hear tell stories its the other way around.
Stoats will usually only kill one and usually quite young hens or chicks.
Mink will kill all it can get its hands on. And won't even eat them. May take a good few mouth gulls of a chicken breast but will kill off any other manner of birds in there.

Capercaille

Kess73 wrote: »

In terms of wild animals, not many native species will go out of their way to kill a mink, although a few would be capable of doing so. If what happens in the UK is any guide, then the otter is the species that is the least tolerant of mink and the one most likely to actively chase down and kill mink.

Sea eagles readily predate on american mink in Finland I believe, hopefully our tiny Sea eagles population can do a similar job.
Goshawks which breed in 3-5 Counties in the Republic and have up to 5 breeding pairs in the North will also take mink. The link shows a juvenile Goshawk killing a mink.
http://www.nrk.no/ostafjells/telemark/kamp-pa-liv-og-dod-1.6328371

OpenYourEyes

Capercaille wrote: »

Goshawks which breed in 3-5 Counties in the Republic

Goshawks, which have or are suspected to have bred in 3-5 counties in the Republic at various points in the relatively recent past ........ surely?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Studies have shown Mink populations crashed in areas where Otters have re-established in recent years.

Capercaille

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Goshawks, which have or are suspected to have bred in 3-5 counties in the Republic at various points in the relatively recent past ........ surely?

Yip sorry, the are suspected in breeding in 3-5 Counties. Goshawk breeding sites are kept hidden from the general public for fear of persection. I know a site in the North which has breeding Goshawk, but site is rightly kept from general public.

OpenYourEyes

Capercaille wrote: »

Yip sorry, the are suspected in breeding in 3-5 Counties. Goshawk breeding sites are kept hidden from the general public for fear of persection. I know a site in the North which has breeding Goshawk, but site is rightly kept from general public.

As they should be! I've heard of various incidents of Goshawks breeding in a small number of locations in the Republic in the past, but I doubt there's 3-5 nests on the go in any one year though! A bird I'd love to see establish here, but given the levels of Peregrine persecution I wouldn't be hugely optimistic either.

Capercaille

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

As they should be! I've heard of various incidents of Goshawks breeding in a small number of locations in the Republic in the past, but I doubt there's 3-5 nests on the go in any one year though! A bird I'd love to see establish here, but given the levels of Peregrine persecution I wouldn't be hugely optimistic either.

They are very secretive though. Consider their smaller cousin the Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawks have a large population in Ireland, but you wouldn't see them too often (compared to less numerous birds like buzzard, kestrel). I've been in forests in Poland, Spain, UK, Greece that have good populations of Goshawks and never seen even one sadly.

dodderangler

There's a hell of alot more goshawks around than many think.
Think of the amount every year tat disappear from their falconers and will then thrive in te wild.

Zoo4m8

dodderangler wrote: »

There's a hell of alot more goshawks around than many think.
Think of the amount every year tat disappear from their falconers and will then thrive in te wild.

With jesses and bells attached?

dodderangler

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

With jesses and bells attached?

Yes.
My Harris hawk has managed to break off her bell last week the little snake.
She has done her jesses in plenty of times.

vermin99

Phoenix wrote: »

Are they vicious towards humans?

From experience if they can they will run if they get there chance but I have seen one incident where someone cornered one killing chickens and he stood up on his two back legs hissing at her,the mink was later caught in a live trap e(asiest way to deal with them) and dispatched humanely

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dodderangler wrote: »

There's a hell of alot more goshawks around than many think.
Think of the amount every year tat disappear from their falconers and will then thrive in te wild.

I don't think falconers are losing enough Goshawks to have any impact on the population demographic. If that were the case we'd have breeding colonies of that dreadful american import the Harris Hawk.
Goshawk numbers are difficult to determine and we do suspect breeding in 3 to 5 counties but I can assure you there are no significant feral populations.

dodderangler

Shepard Narrow Neighbor wrote: »

I don't think falconers are losing enough Goshawks to have any impact on the population demographic. If that were the case we'd have breeding colonies of that dreadful american import the Harris Hawk.
Goshawk numbers are difficult to determine and we do suspect breeding in 3 to 5 counties but I can assure you there are no significant feral populations.

I can guarantee there is breeding pairs of Harris hawks that strayed away from owner out there somewhere.
There is a case in the uk of a successful breeding pair of a Harris hawk male and common buzzard female in the wild

Kess73

Mod Post: Getting a little off topic now folks. If a discussion on Goshawks and Harris Hawks living/breeding in Ireland has legs, then start a new thread for it.

fission

Shepard Narrow Neighbor wrote: »

The only problem is that mink don't hold a defined home territory as such and can travel 5km or more each day. I would be interested to hear if this particular one is in the OPs garden on a regular basis.

I saw him there again yesterday afternoon...and I haven't seen any rats in a week.

However, mid week there were two dead pigeons about 4 feet apart on side of the road out front. Their bodies could only been there a few hours when I saw. We live on a very quiet road so I doubt two were hit by cars in the same place in such a short space of time...they were gone again a few hours later.