Mink in the rabbitry [Slightly graphic]

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G

Gone

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So last night I went down to feed the rabbits, put in the birds, same old routine. I noticed a dark tail disappearing into a gap in the inner paneling of the wall, investigated this by holding back the panel, and am confronted with a mink face peering back at me.

I came back to the house to get the pellet gun, and when I get back down there, it's merrily hopping around with the rabbits, half-heartedly chasing them. It went back to its hiding spot, and long story short, I dispatched it. Then I found what it had done to one of our does. :evil:

I've never seen a mink such a pure black before. I'm wondering if it could be a domestic one? If anyone has any experience with critters like this I'd love to hear about it. Pics below.

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If anyone has doubts about the necessity of dispatching it, here's a fairly graphic shot of what it left in one of our nestboxes. Don't click if you're overly sensitive to rabbit carnage. :(
 
Poor bunny, and poor mink. I can understand why you did it, however I can also see it from his point of view - someone left lunch out for him!
 
This is the first time since we began with rabbits in 2005 that we have lost one to a predator. I think it probably came up through an old rat hole since the rabbitry is guarded by five foot high grills.

We hate having to kill even problem critters, but even if we could have kept it out of the rabbit colony, it would have turned its attention to our chickens or even our goose.

In the past, mink and weasels here have been more beneficial than not, clearing out huge rodent populations before becoming a problem to our livestock. This is the first time we've had one go after the livestock first. A pity, but!
 
I wonder if maybe he was from a farm, then... If he was being fed rabbit at the farm, he'd be more inclined to go after it, just by familiarity of the smell. He might not have had the best hunting skills, which would make him more inclined to go after caged stock as well. He seems pretty chunky to be wild.
 
Bummer

I hope the doe wasn't nursing, she looks like a gorgeous red and I am so sorry for your loss.

Its a sad thing but if you didn't dispatch him/her they'd just be back for more.

We have a resident ermine, a much smaller cousin to the mink, she's never bothered with the poultry and so far she keeps out of the rabbitry. She does a stellar job of keeping the mice population in check but if she does anything to my bunnies she's a goner.

My grandfather was a trapper and my grandmother raised mink for fur, they come in all sorts of shades but it is possible this was an escapee from a mink farm. There are quite a few fur farms in Ontario but they try and keep quiet due to the AR wackos.
 
Wow, what a beautiful mink! So plump and healthy... aside from being dead, of course! :roll:

I've never seen a black ferret- but I googled "black mink" and the American Mink is black.

Did you skin it? I would!

You could make a mink coat for Marilla for her birthday! :mrgreen:
 
That is a FAT mink.
F
A
T

Had to come from a fur farm or possibly a pet or at the very least - fed from humans.
That is a solid circle around his pudgy body - sure would've been adorable to see him run around :p :lol:
I've never seen such a fat one. Black one, sure. That fat? No
 
I would say farm mink. Wild mink are much slimmer and I doubt they would of stuck around for you to come back and dispatch them. Mink can crawl in J feeders if you leave the lids open and gain access to the cages that way, Just something to be aware of.
 
It was beautiful but they are lil terrors. When I did wildlife rehab I raised two just like that one. By the the time they were ready for release, it was easy to see why they are such effective predators for their size! Fast, wicked lil suckers!
I was glad for the experience but even more glad to see them go off to the national forest! LOL
So sorry about your doe, I'm glad you were able to dispatch him before he did even more damage. :(
 
The only thing I think when I see that mink is what a beautiful fur coat it has and how much I would love to tan it! I wanna mink!<br /><br />__________ Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:45 pm __________<br /><br />Oh, and you might want to get the mink off that nice white sheet you have or the blood will stain it. :yes: That is really a beautiful blanket you have there.
 
The rabbit was not nursing... None of our rabbits have been breeding this fall and in fact we are planning on sending the remaining five to camp and starting fresh in the spring. The rabbitry needs some work in the meantime.

I agree that it was a very fat mink. We have a mouse explosion this year and the mink could have lived easily on them if it had wanted to. I've never heard of a mink farm near here, but there could be one. The mink measured 21 inches from nose to the tip of its tail and weighed just a touch over two pounds.

We apparently have fishers here too, Ottersatin, but they are much larger, more the size of a housecat. So definitely a mink. We popped it in the freezer while we decide if we want to try tanning the pelt. It seems a shame to waste it.

Dood, I hope your resident weasel behaves itself. There is nothing like one for rodent control!

Mystang, we're hoping that nice white blanket will melt in the next couple of days. It's very cold just now, but the temperarures are supposed to get above freezing soon. I don't mind the snow so much, but the ice makes me very nervous about falling.
 
Nice shot!

We shoot intruders like that on sight, even if they haven't done anything. I've heard one too many horror stories of what a lone nursing mink can do to poultry.

I agree with MSD. Save the pelt!
 
My son had a weasel raise havoc in his chicken coop, last January.
It killed 8 birds. Just killed them for the blood and did not eat any.
He finally caught it in a trap. Weasels are brown in the summer
and then turn white in the winter.

Then early in the summer, the neighbors dog destroyed 16 young
birds from the spring hatch which included ducks, guineas and turkeys.
I have broody chickens and was able to put together hatches for him in July,
and got him some more turkeys, guineas and duck babies.

I can understand a predator killing one animal and then eating it.
But some predators do it for the blood and the sport of it.
That's when it really hurts the most.
 
I can understand a predator killing one animal and then eating it.
But some predators do it for the blood and the sport of it.
Click to expand...
The predators are not just killing for sport or blood, they will bring the extra bodies home to the young ones or stash them for a meal tomorrow or the next day, in the winter the carcasses can last all season. They also never know when someone bigger "cough" human "cough" will come along and steal their meal, with several bodies lying around hopefully they'll get one or two for themselves and their offspring.
 
Dood":x051wvsr said:
I can understand a predator killing one animal and then eating it.
But some predators do it for the blood and the sport of it.
Click to expand...
The predators are not just killing for sport or blood, they will bring the extra bodies home to the young ones or stash them for a meal tomorrow or the next day, in the winter the carcasses can last all season. They also never know when someone bigger "cough" human "cough" will come along and steal their meal, with several bodies lying around hopefully they'll get one or two for themselves and their offspring.
Click to expand...

Maybe that is what is supposed to happen, but not from what I have seen
first hand. When we first moved here, we brought 8 ducks with us. The
ducks took a liking to the creek on our propery line. A mink sheared
off 8 heads and that was the end of the ducks. Years ago, we had a
weasel get into the house. The black lab cornered it in the bathroom.
The hubby dispatched it. We didn't give it a chance to escape. Nasty
little critter.

I have more respect for a possum, a raccoon, a fox, a coyote or a hawk.
They usually grab one victim and take off with it.
 
That fatty little Mink for sure looks like a farmed Mink. :( Since it also didn't seem totally terrified of a human presence, it doubles the chance in my mind it was from a farm. Sadly a lot of "animal rights" people raid Mink farms and turn their semi-domesticated Mink loose to "live in the wild"...which is ridiculous. They don't have the skills needed to survive, and end up either dying on the road as roadkill, or worse...raiding livestock. :(

What a shame!!! That's a lovely red shade to that doe. Rotten luck!!!!!! I am SO sorry, terrible way to lose a rabbit. At least you know you got the culprit!

I agree though...that's a BEAUTIFUL Mink. Nice and plump and oh so shiny, shiny black!!! Save that pelt, it's lovely!!!!! Small compensation for the loss of a doe, but still.
 

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