The mink is the most common water mammal predator (meat eater) in Minnesota. It can be found in nearly every wetland, lake, and creek in the state, including those in cities and towns. It eats many kinds of small fish, ducks, and water mammals. The mink is an expert swimmer.

Identification

General description: A small, long, brown predator with small rounded ears, a white or yellow bib on its chest, and whitish belly.

Length: Adults are 14 to 20 inches long, including a 5- to 9-inch tail.

Weight: Adults weigh 2 to 4 pounds.

Color: Light to dark brown, with a white- to cream-colored underside.

Reproduction

Female mink get pregnant in mid-winter, but it takes a month before the fetus begins to develop. Then it takes another month before the litter of about five young, each weighing one-half ounce, is born.

Food

Mink eat just about any type of animal that lives in and near water, including fish, frogs, ducks, crayfish, eggs, and land animals such as mice and rabbits.

Predators

Except for otters, mink have few natural predators. However, they often die from parasites and diseases.

Habitat and range

Wherever there is water, there are likely wild mink. However, some chemically polluted waters containing mercury or PCBs somehow sterilize mink so that they cannot reproduce.

Population and management

Wild mink have been one of the most valued furbearers for two centuries, and thousands are trapped throughout Minnesota each autumn by licensed trappers. The mink population remains healthy.

Fun facts

Look for mink tracks along stream banks, especially where there are small holes in the banks. Mink often leave their droppings on rocks and logs at the stream edge, and sometimes even on boat and fishing docks.