# mink on the river bank



## carlo69 (Apr 12, 2007)

just thought i would ask how many people have seen mink in the wild ? I saw a large male while i was fishing on tuesday he had little fear he stood less than 10 feet away from me just looking at me ! this was on the out skirts of norwich , but i have seen them at thetford too . has anyone seen them and where ? Cheers


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

One of those nasty 'introduced' animals which is killing our native creatures hand over fist. I know if I saw one I'd be hoping to have a gun in my hand. They are classed as a 'shoot on site' vermin.


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## sasandjo (Dec 8, 2007)

plenty in angus scotland , used to see a few each trip piking but there getting pushed out by otters now :2thumb:


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## ashmellor (Apr 5, 2008)

i was fishing once, just got a trout in the landing net when a mink grabbed hold of it!

had been hiding right under my feet!


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## Ess (May 20, 2009)

Pimperella said:


> One of those nasty 'introduced' animals which is killing our native creatures hand over fist. I know if I saw one I'd be hoping to have a gun in my hand. They are classed as a 'shoot on site' vermin.


Surely thats a wind up ? 
If not, please tell me how they are "nasty" ? 

They were introduced by us - kept in small boxes on farms and slaughtered to make coats for rich people ( thats nasty imo) - hardly their fault that a few escaped - especially when it was human error that allowed them to do so. You can hardly blame them for that 

Killing our native creatures hand over fist ? - maybe you actually mean they are excellent predators, ideally suited to their native environment, they can climb, burrow and swim - again how can you blame them for simply surviving ? 
Your "shoot on site" comment is just ludicrous, but maybe the government or environmental agency should employ you as chief mink hunter and supply you with an AK47 so that you could ambush them en-mass


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## George_Millett (Feb 26, 2009)

Ess said:


> Surely thats a wind up ?
> If not, please tell me how they are "nasty" ?
> 
> They were introduced by us - kept in small boxes on farms and slaughtered to make coats for rich people ( thats nasty imo) - hardly their fault that a few escaped - especially when it was human error that allowed them to do so. You can hardly blame them for that


It wasn't human error that let the majority out. It was idiots who felt that the fur trade was cruel and instead of being sensible and picketing the government to change the law. Decided to commit criminals acts and break in to legal businesses and release the :censor: things.



> Killing our native creatures hand over fist ? - maybe you actually mean they are excellent predators, ideally suited to their native environment, they can climb, burrow and swim - again how can you blame them for simply surviving ?
> Your "shoot on site" comment is just ludicrous, but maybe the government or environmental agency should employ you as chief mink hunter and supply you with an AK47 so that you could ambush them en-mass


Our environment evolved without the Mink as such they have no natural predators. As a result the population exploded and are now wiping out native species. 

Shoot on sight for these animals is as valid a response to these infestations as the Australian response to the cane toad and feral pig or do you beleive that they let those animals live as well despite the risk to there indeginous creatures.


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

George_Milllett said:


> It wasn't human error that let the majority out. It was idiots who felt that the fur trade was cruel and instead of being sensible and picketing the government to change the law. Decided to commit criminals acts and break in to legal businesses and release the :censor: things.


 exactly, well said :notworthy:

seen mink a couple of times in the burn on the golf course next to my house


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## mattm (Jul 18, 2008)

Never seen them in the wild myself, that must have been really good to see one.

They are pests though, and although I wouldn't kill one myself I wouldn't think twice about attempting to catch one if I saw it, to hand it to a wildlife centre!


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

mattm said:


> Never seen them in the wild myself, that must have been really good to see one.
> 
> They are pests though, and although I wouldn't kill one myself I wouldn't think twice about attempting to catch one if I saw it, to hand it to a wildlife centre!


Wildlife centres are 'supposed ' to eunthanise them if they get them in, I know not all do, so really I think I'd leave it be.
If you do catch one you are not allowed, by law to release it again back into the wild though, nor are you legally allowed to keep it, or you are committing a criminal act yourself.

Same goes for grey squiggles.


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## reptismail (Nov 15, 2008)

Were we go on the boat and fishing on this river there are water voles and the university have had to set traps for the mink because its one of the very few sites in north wales which still has these amazing animals, but apparently in the last few years loads of mink have been killi=ng the water voles


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

saw a dead one ths year just outside my village.


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## carlo69 (Apr 12, 2007)

*Hi*

Thankyou for all your interesting replies, I must say that i like mink but do see them as a threat to our native wildlife, and although a beautiful thing to see i'd rather see them in their own native habitat and would be quite happy to see them removed from the british country side where they are causing a lot of damage to the ecosystem , on another note i know someone who kept them at one point and the hand reared babies were as tame as anything .


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

Pimperella said:


> _One of those nasty 'introduced' animals which is killing our native creatures hand over fist. I know if I saw one I'd be hoping to have a gun in my hand. They are classed as a 'shoot on site' vermin._


Native :lol2:What's native ?.Take away this lot below and your left with some red squrrels and foxs:lol2:i know we have a few more than that but still:Na_Na_Na_Na:.

*MAMMALS*
Fallow deer
Muntjac deer
Chinese water deer
Sika Deer
Brown rat
Black rat
Rabbit
Hare
House mouse
Edible dormouse
North American Mink
Grey squirrel
Porcupine (crested and Himalayan)
Red necked wallaby
Black Tailed Prairie Dog
Feral cat
Racoons?

*BIRDS*
Egyptian goose
Canada goose
Mandarin duck
Carolina Wood duck
Red crested pochard
Ruddy duck
Muscovy Duck
Little Owl
Pheasant species
French partridge
Bobwhite quail
Budgerigar
Ring necked parakeet
Monk Parakeet
European eagle owl
Ruddy shelduck

*REPTILES/AMPHIBIANS*
Green lizard
Common Wall lizard
Tesselated snake
Aesculapian snake
Red eared terrapin
European pond terrapin
Marsh frog
Pool frog
Edible frog
European Tree frog
American Bullfrog
Afican Clawed toad
Midwife toad
Yellow-bellied toad
Italian crested newt
Alpine newt
Marbled newt

*FISH*
Pumpkinseed fish
Cichlid
Guppy
Wels catfish
Zander
Bitterling
Common Carp
Goldfish
Orfe
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
Top mouth gudgeon

*Invertebrates*
Harlequinn ladybird
Lily beetle
Rosemary beetle
oak processionary moth
horse chestnut leaf miner (moth)
Stick insects
Termites (wiped out, but may return)
False black widow
wasp spider
Mitten crabs
American + Turkish crayfish
Japenese skeleton shrimp
Bloody red shrimp
New Zealand/Australian flatworm
Slipper limpet
New Zealand mud snail
Zebra Mussel

Mink do no more than the combo job of the otter and the stoat/weasel. And when the otters do move into a area the mink move out.Water vole are doing ok hear we have mink all over.Mink have enough to eat rather than just target uk natives.They eat the non native crayfish,Rats,Rabbits'etc'etc.Zander once got the hate hype yet they now tured out to be possitive to uk waters.Polecats are growing in numbers and with people setting the hate vibes so high.There are people that won't ID the palecat and mink apart and just kill coz they look close enough.Fact is there here killing one here and one there is not going to cut them down.And it only take are native wild life a couple generation to adapt and they been here long enough for are wild life to do that.


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

gazz said:


> Native :lol2:What's native ?.Take away this lot below and your left with some red squrrels and foxs:lol2:i know we have a few more than that but still:Na_Na_Na_Na:.
> 
> *MAMMALS*
> Fallow deer
> ...


 
What totaly utter shite. 
Knowing the people who actually do the breeding and release programs on Water Voles. You couldn't have talked out of your backside more.

Mink need total eradication from the UK. 

But hey if mink don't cause problems, then niether do non native crayfish.

Both of which have cause major drops in both water vole by Mink and Native Crays from non. 

Polecats would have a far better chance without Mink which aren't ment to be here.


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## ownedbyroxy (Jan 27, 2009)

Mink do devastate. Last yr we lost our entire collection of ducks to them. Which totalled 17, and one of the neighbouring allotments also lost 20 odd within a few days of us losing ours. Mink were seen (and killed) at the site. Within days they cost £100s of devastation. This wasn't through means of survival. I understand the circle of life etc. But only not much was eaten considering what was taken.


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## carlo69 (Apr 12, 2007)

gazz said:


> Native :lol2:What's native ?.Take away this lot below and your left with some red squrrels and foxs:lol2:i know we have a few more than that but still:Na_Na_Na_Na:.
> 
> *MAMMALS*
> Fallow deer
> ...


Native is none of the above!, just because its here and has been here a long time doesn't mean it should be here ,fluffy and cute doesn't make it an acceptible animal in our ecosystem and a couple of generations does not make a super efficient predator any less of a threat to our own native wildlife:bash:


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

The only good Mink is a dead Mink :whistling2:


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## shiftylou (Apr 27, 2008)

I see minks all the time, dundee is full of them :lol2:


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

ownedbyroxy said:


> Mink do devastate. Last yr we lost our entire collection of ducks to them. Which totalled 17, and one of the neighbouring allotments also lost 20 odd within a few days of us losing ours. Mink were seen (and killed) at the site. Within days they cost £100s of devastation. *This wasn't through means of survival. I understand the circle of life etc. But only not much was eaten considering what was taken.*


 agree there, mink are voracious and have been known to kill when there would appear to be no need and waste a lot


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## Louiseb (Sep 3, 2008)

They are in Chesterfield and have been spotted on many ocassions around the canal - which runs alongside the river rother.


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