Our Christmas Present From Mother Nature

I woke up this morning to find this adorable Kritter playing in our spring. Apparently he's found the perfect home there and he blends in quite well. At first we thought he might be an Otter--but a very small one at that! But then I discovered this link that tells more about the differences between Otters and Minks.

American mink are most commonly found in wooded or scrubby areas beside aquatic habitats, where they find much of their prey, though they may also be frequent in more open situations. They are territorial, with an individual mink occupying a territory of around 1-6km along a river or stream. Within its territory, a mink may have several dens, used for shelter and for raising young. Den sites are usually cavities amongst tree roots, in willow pollards, stick piles, rabbit burrows or in piles of rocks.


Mink mate in February/March, producing one litter of between three and six young, known as kits, in late April/May. The kits are weaned at 8 weeks but stay with their mother until late summer, when they disperse and establish their own territories.


Mink do hunt on land, preying upon small mammals and birds, but are expert hunters in the water. They take a wide variety of fish and also waterfowl in shallow areas near lakes and river banks. Occasionally a mink will indulge in 'surplus killing', taking a large number of prey at one time. Whilst this may appear wasteful, in their native North America, such surpluses would be frozen during hard winters and act as a store of food for the future. Mink are opportunist predators, taking whatever prey is available, with fish, birds, eggs, small rodents and particularly rabbits making up the major part of the diet in different areas.


They are also sometimes confused with otters; a mink is slightly smaller than a domestic cat, an otter is considerably larger, closer in size to a medium-sized dog.

Check the link to see the scaled drawing.