# Mink?????? Where are the breeders????? HELP!!



## ilovemyboas

I Really want a pet mink but cant find a breeder anywhere in the UK, i have 2 polecat jills and love them and i no having a mink would be just as great, if anyone can help me i would really appriciate it :2thumb:


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## Fixx

ilovemyboas said:


> I Really want a pet mink but cant find a breeder anywhere in the UK, i have 2 polecat jills and love them and i no having a mink would be just as great, if anyone can help me i would really appriciate it :2thumb:


As far as I can recall you will need a license to keep mink.


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## RORCOV

Fixx said:


> As far as I can recall you will need a license to keep mink.



Yes you do.


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## Shadowz

Yes you Need a DEFRA licence and DEFRA inspections as well.
They need a large double meshed secured set up ( normal hutches ect wont be accepted ) they need access to water so they can swim in their set up as well ) 
I think you need to apply yearly and have yearly inspections ( not totally sure if its yearly or less often thou ) 
Keeping mink is very different from keeping ferrets.


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## ilovemyboas

oh well cheers 4 the help, shame  but ill have to look into it l8er on when i can get everythin sorted and u never no, fingers crossed


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## Marinam2

I hope no one in wildlife spots this thread!!


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## Fixx

Marinam2 said:


> I hope no one in wildlife spots this thread!!


Why Miriam?


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## Loderuna

Fixx said:


> Why Miriam?


I would think the expectation is something along the lines of:

Damn mink have decimated our native wildlife populations and shouldn't be kept in the country, licensed or not. They should all be hunted down and irradicated. Etc, etc. :whistling2:

Maybe a bit stronger language and some jumping up and down!


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## lillevenn

My dad guards the ducklings on his stretch of canal with a rifle after mink appeared and scoffed them all last year :gasp:


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## ilovemyboas

ok calm down god! i love wildlife i have had a great fasination and love for it since a child and i live in the country and my cousin has a farm, i happen 2 love mink even though they hav a bad rep but that is not there fault its the fur trades fault!! they r lovely pets if u can handle all the hard work and obviously get the right licence which means u would b check so they were safe and couldnt get out and hurt any animals, i also keep ferrets and they r from the same family and if they did escape they would kill my neigbours chickens so i have them in a good hutch so they dont i do understand what mink are capable of and i think it would b lovely 2 get the experience and look after one properly and enjoy how beautiful they are, its not there fault they have had such a bad past i just would like 2 make at least one hav a nice life, shame they aint all in there natural home but that the human race 4 u!


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## Dixie19

Loderuna said:


> I would think the expectation is something along the lines of:
> 
> Damn mink have decimated our native wildlife populations and shouldn't be kept in the country, licensed or not. They should all be hunted down and irradicated. Etc, etc. :whistling2:
> 
> Maybe a bit stronger language and some jumping up and down!


Only American Mink (non-native). European Mink are allowed to live in peace


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## ilovemyboas

Thank u dixie! people really need 2 stop commenting on posts if they havent got anythin productive 2 say, i was gona say we got mink in our countryside and no one seems 2 b down there killin them! they been living there for years with no problems from people coming 2 hunt them down.


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## Mujician

From my point of view, it was informative. There was no need for you to jump down Miriams throat was there?


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## Fixx

ilovemyboas said:


> Thank u dixie! people really need 2 stop commenting on posts if they havent got anythin productive 2 say, i was gona say we got mink in our countryside and no one seems 2 b down there killin them! they been living there for years with no problems from people coming 2 hunt them down.


No, but perhaps they should be hunted down, perhaps then the Water Vole may stand some chance of making a come back. A female mink with a litter of kits can kill all the water voles in her area within a year.


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## Dixie19

Funny how animal rights activists released thousands of non-native Mink that were bigger, stronger and better swimmers than our own Mink. Because obviously that wasn't going to have a massive impact on native wildlife....


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## blackberry

i had a mink for a few days when i helped rescue ferrets, some dickhead bred him, part tamed him, he escaped and was hit by a car and had to have his eye removed and jaw put back together - thats the human race for you :devil:

minks are not pets, they cant be handled well and should be left well alone, they can get out of most enclosures

My mink lives with an experienced keeper now and over my dead body would i wish to have another, hes very well cared for and cant ever be released, but i cant for the life of me see why anywone would breed then and want them for a bloody pet

seriously- do not get a mink :whip:


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## ilovemyboas

Mujician said:


> From my point of view, it was informative. There was no need for you to jump down Miriams throat was there?


 i was jumpin more down loderuna's throat 4 the unnessacery comment and i was only statin 2 miriam that i hav a great resprect and love 4 wildlife as the said they hoped someone from wildlife doesnt c this thread, if i want 2 reasearch and find more out about mink then i can thats what this is for to ask a question and get some proper answers but people seem 2 want to use it as a away 2 shout there mouth off i just want to no if there are any breeders and was hoping people would tell me what they are like as pets or if its a bad idea but tell me in a nice way, is that 2 much 2 ask??


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## ilovemyboas

blackberry said:


> i had a mink for a few days when i helped rescue ferrets, some dickhead bred him, part tamed him, he escaped and was hit by a car and had to have his eye removed and jaw put back together - thats the human race for you :devil:
> 
> minks are not pets, they cant be handled well and should be left well alone, they can get out of most enclosures
> 
> My mink lives with an experienced keeper now and over my dead body would i wish to have another, hes very well cared for and cant ever be released, but i cant for the life of me see why anywone would breed then and want them for a bloody pet
> 
> seriously- do not get a mink :whip:


k thank you this is the kind of thing i wanted 2 hear, somethin from someone who no's 1st hand, thanks i have been lookin into it and like ur saying i think it would b very hard work and it would b likely 2 much for me and my finances at the moment, if i ever hav the finances and am lucky enough to get some training and advice from some qualifyed person, i may l8er l8er on in a good few years rescue one from a proper place but i think ill b sticking to building my ferret family  thanks 4 the advice


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## ilovemyboas

PLEASE READ THIS, this is for the people arguing about the british countryside so i dont think we got anythin 2 worry about, soon the mink will be part of the british countryside just like wild rabbits and grey squirrels, we wont b able 2 get rid of them all its impossible unless sientists bring out another really nasty virus like they did with rabbits and a bunny with mixi is bad i no cause i hunt rabbits and i h8 it when i come across this the poor rabbit suffers so much and its not right, they r here 2 stay so read this, its not there fault they were brought here but it is a shame is nearly wiped out eu mink but then thats just like the grey squirrel, another inported animal thats nearly killed off our beautiful red squirrel!! 

Ms Harrington added: “We found that with the return of the otter and polecat the mink have changed from their normal noctural habits to be active in the day-time, presumably to avoid being bullied by the otters, which are much larger than the mink. This is a rare example of a mammal changing its pattern of activity to avoid competition.” 
Polecats, mink, weasels and stoats are all members of the Mustelidac family, which Prof Macdonald irreverently called “the smellies”. 
Members of the weasel family all have strong odours as part of their scent-marking communcations. 
The mink versus water vole question is just one faced by conservationists when considering how far people should go to try to control invasive mammals. 
Prof Macdonald added: “There are difficult conservation problems with financial and philosophical implications in how far we can go to control the invasive species such as the American mink, the grey squirrel and the muntjac deer. All these introduced species pose problems for native wildlife and sometimes it is justifiable to try to put the clock back by removing them. 
“But in other cases it may be better to try to save them — after all rabbits and fallow deer, for example, were non-native originally and they are now accepted as part of Britain’s wildlife. Conservation is all about difficult judgements,” said Prof Macdonald.


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## ilovemyboas

ACTUALLY READ THIS ITS THE WHOLE STORY!! IN THE OXFORD TIMES!!
PLEASE READ THIS, this is for the people arguing about the british countryside so i dont think we got anythin 2 worry about, soon the mink will be part of the british countryside just like wild rabbits and grey squirrels, we wont b able 2 get rid of them all its impossible unless sientists bring out another really nasty virus like they did with rabbits and a bunny with mixi is bad i no cause i hunt rabbits and i h8 it when i come across this the poor rabbit suffers so much and its not right, they r here 2 stay so read this, its not there fault they were brought here but it is a shame is nearly wiped out eu mink but then thats just like the grey squirrel, another inported animal thats nearly killed off our beautiful red squirrel!! 


Life is beginning to change for the American mink on the riverbanks of the Upper Thames and its tributaries in Oxfordshire. For decades the mink has been dominant — if officially an intrusive — mammal in the wildlife of Britain. 
It is known to be one of the reasons why the native water vole has been in decline as the mink hunt it down for food. 
Loss of wetlands and waterside vegetation to intensifying agriculture have been factors in the reduction of water voles. 
Yet there are signs that the mink is not going to have everything its way in the future, with the recovery of otters and polecats in the Thames region, according to researchers with WildCRU, the wildlife conservation reserach unit of the Department of Zoology of Oxford University. 
So the gradual reappearance of the otter and polecat means that the mink now have some competition on the riverbanks and are beginning to adjust their patterns of behaviour. 
However, no one expects the invasive mink to decline in the way that the native otters, polecats and water voles have in the past. 
Prof David Macdonald, founding director of WildCRU and Oxford’s first professor of wildlife conservation, said: “American mink are an intrusive mammal into Britain and they had an open door into the countryside as they were introduced here exactly when otters and polecasts had been driven into steep decline.” 
Historically, American mink began to be imported into this country from the USA in the 1920s when there was a worldwide fashion for long furs, of which they were a fashionable example. 
“We must distinguish between the American mink and the European mink, the latter being native to mainland Europe. The reason American mink became attractive to the fashion world was because it had longer and more luxuriant fur than the European mink,” said Prof Macdonald. 
So it became economic to set up American mink farms in this country — the first was in 1926 — and similar farms were established in France, Germany, Holland and Denmark. 
“Inevitably, there were escapes by mink from the farms and in more recent years many mink were released by the animal rights movement, although a lot of those mink probably died,” he said. 
But sufficient mink were hardy enough to survive and are now found in the wild all over Britain — with the exception of the northern half of Scotland. 
Just why mink have not spread all over Scotland is a subject for research by WildCRU. 
Many regard the American mink as a menace. Prof Macdonald said: “They are beautiful and fascinating mammals and it is not their fault they are here and are so problematic. They were brought into this country by people.” 
Although the mink is seen as a problem in the upper Thames region and everywhere else, there is a parallel situation in Russia and the former Soviet republics. 
“The Russians thought the American mink would be an advantage for their fur trappers. So they were imported and the result has been that the native European mink has severely declined in those countries too, due to the competition from the American invader,” added Prof Macdonald. 
To assess the impact of American mink on our riverbanks, WildCRU carried out a four-year project on the Upper Thames region — that is the stretch north of Oxford. 
Tom Moorhouse and Lauren Harrington, both post doctoral researchers with WildCRU, were among the team involved in the work on the impact of mink on the water vole population. Mink were fitted with lightweight radio receivers and were tracked over their territory and some water voles, bred by specialists, were reintroduced into various stretches of the river. 
Mr Moorhouse said: “We found that water voles had a better survival rate when the margin of vegetation at the water edge was 6m rather than 1m, although the voles usually lived in the first 1m from the water’s edge so they could easily escape into the water if danger appeared.” 
One way to help water voles survive and check the presence of mink was to anchor mink rafts in the water. The rafts were designed by the Game Conservancy and Wildlife Conservancy Trust. 
Mink would leave their footprints in clay that lined the raft. 
If it was decided by landowners and water bailiffs that the mink should be humanely killed, a trap would be put at one end of the raft. However, to keep mink out of a stretch of river, there would have to be an ongoing programme of eradication using the rafts and traps, otherwise the mink would normally recolonise. 
Mr Moorhouse added: “It is a job for the landowners and gamekeepers or water bailiffs to install the rafts and remove the mink. But then there is the question of the time and cost that would be involved.” 
Ms Harrington added: “We found that with the return of the otter and polecat the mink have changed from their normal noctural habits to be active in the day-time, presumably to avoid being bullied by the otters, which are much larger than the mink. This is a rare example of a mammal changing its pattern of activity to avoid competition.” 
Polecats, mink, weasels and stoats are all members of the Mustelidac family, which Prof Macdonald irreverently called “the smellies”. 
Members of the weasel family all have strong odours as part of their scent-marking communcations. 
The mink versus water vole question is just one faced by conservationists when considering how far people should go to try to control invasive mammals. 
Prof Macdonald added: “There are difficult conservation problems with financial and philosophical implications in how far we can go to control the invasive species such as the American mink, the grey squirrel and the muntjac deer. All these introduced species pose problems for native wildlife and sometimes it is justifiable to try to put the clock back by removing them. 
“But in other cases it may be better to try to save them — after all rabbits and fallow deer, for example, were non-native originally and they are now accepted as part of Britain’s wildlife. Conservation is all about difficult judgements,” said Prof Macdonald.


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## blackberry

if you like the idea of a mink, you should consider ferrets, they are just as beautiful, thousands of them are in rescues, and they are fabulous pets and you wont loose a finger or have defra on your back either :2thumb:


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## ilovemyboas

blackberry said:


> if you like the idea of a mink, you should consider ferrets, they are just as beautiful, thousands of them are in rescues, and they are fabulous pets and you wont loose a finger or have defra on your back either :2thumb:


didnt u read my 1st post?? i said i have 2 polecat jills which r ferrets! and about 2 get a castrated male 2 go with them, if it meant i get 2 hav a mink i really wouldnt mind people checkin up that my housing was safe and escape free, id like it when they leave and say its all lookin great then i no im doin it the right way ive kept boas and they r alot worse than a mink if u get bit especially if they decide they are gona attack and they are around 10 foot long, think about it!! and i been bit by a ferret b4 i aint bothered by that at all u just bite ur teeth and deal with it, after all ur dealin with a wild animal, u got 2 expect 2 get bit and if it bothers u then u shouldnt even think about ownin them.


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## Dixie19

ilovemyboas said:


> didnt u read my 1st post?? i said i have 2 polecat jills which r ferrets! and about 2 get a castrated male 2 go with them, if it meant i get 2 hav a mink i really wouldnt mind people checkin up that my housing was safe and escape free, id like it when they leave and say its all lookin great then i no im doin it the right way ive kept boas and they r alot worse than a mink if u get bit especially if they decide they are gona attack and they are around 10 foot long, think about it!! and i been bit by a ferret b4 i aint bothered by that at all u just bite ur teeth and deal with it, after all ur dealin with a wild animal, u got 2 expect 2 get bit and if it bothers u then u shouldnt even think about ownin them.


I don't think if a Mink bit you it wouldnt bother you, it would seriously ruin your day, and i your thinking of putting it in with your 2 ferrets, then you are going to end up with 0 ferrets 1 mink, Just something to think about I'm not having a go, but I would swerve the idea of having a pet mink, its just not ideal.


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## carlo69

Loderuna said:


> I would think the expectation is something along the lines of:
> 
> Damn mink have decimated our native wildlife populations and shouldn't be kept in the country, licensed or not. They should all be hunted down and irradicated. Etc, etc. :whistling2:
> 
> Maybe a bit stronger language and some jumping up and down!


I see were you are coming from, but how many cat owners keep there cats indoors or in catteries as i often see moggies wandering around with birds mammals and even seen one with a grasssnake in its mouth.All it takes is responsible pet ownership


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## Guest

Mink can be tamed and kept, you just need the knowledge. There’s a guy with a channel on YouTube called Joseph The Mink Man he’s in the USA and keeps, breeds, tames, trains and even hand rears mink. He’s even rescued mink from fur farms when they’ve had the temperament he needs. The enclosures are far larger than that for ferrets. He uses mink to hunt vermin and pest. He has many videos showing the various stages of training, lots of videos on what they need, housing and food Ect. Numerous showing the hunts too. Check his videos of Washushe which is native Indian for beyond brave. He was one badass mink. You could contact him too. Mink can be kept you just need the correct knowledge. Hope I’ve helped. Peace


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