Mink Spraint?

[Tigerweet]

Hello,

I found this spraint on a rock on a river on the edge of plantation forestry in South West Scotland. It's near a couple of definite otter spraints, and it absolutely stank! is it Mink?

That's a normal pen for scale.

That's a normal pen for scale.

Thanks!

[valleyforge]

Hi Tigerweet and welcome to WAB.

Looks more consistent with otter spraint than that of mink, which although often smellier (subjective, I know) is generally much more consolidated than this, which is pretty loose.

Otter spraint is on the whole sweeter (fishier) smelling than that of mink.

[vole-woman]

Yes, they both smell strongly and this particular sample's quite degraded so it's hard to tell from the shape. Mink scat smells foul and meaty. Otter's a bit like scented cod liver oil!

[blackb1rd]

I would say that is most likely otter. From experience (I run our local otter group at the moment) mink are more consolidated (as said above) and often contain a lot of hair and small mammal bones. They tend to be twisted and quite long (relative to the animals size) and would smell a bit nasty.

These two are examples I've taken:

Old Mink scat - Wild About Britain Pics
Fresh mink scat - Wild About Britain Pics

[paulthomas]

The simple answer is smell it. If it's Mink it''ll smell horrible. Otter is much fainter and quite pleasant.

[Tracey.A]

Agree it looks like otter, but I'm leaning towards mink, because as Tigerweet said it stunk. Mink droppings can be loose, depending on what they have eaten.

Tracey