Ok I'm under no illusion's that what I have just seen was a mink...buuuut...I've seen plenty of mink before and this seemed much bigger and just not mink like. Also I have spoken to people who say they have seen otters a few miles away. Then again where I saw it is 1) A stones throw from a housing estate and a busyish road 2) Only beside 2 streams and not rivers and 3) Not that far from where I've seen mink before (though not for many years now).
Basically I went down to rescue any frogs that were on the road that runs past the pond (the pond is just behind a hawthorn hedge in a field beside a road) where I rescued 8 frogs earlier when I got home from work. I walked up and down the road and saw no sign of frogs apart from one squashed one
. Since I had taken my new DLSR with me I thought maybe I could get some shots of the frogs spawning in the pond (I had a small torch with me). I approached the pond from higher up where a small gravel path leads down to it. I could see movement in the water so pressed the shutter half down on the cam to engage the flash(plus it wasnt completely dark as theres a street light just on the road. Whatever was swimmings eyes shined and at first I thought it was a frog. As my eyes adjusted I realised it was a lot bigger than a frog and I thought maybe a duck but it had such a fluent movement that it almost looked like a big thick snake. It then submerged and surfaced a few times and I got a glimpse of fur shining so it was either a mink or an otter. I tried to first get an overall picture but my cam just wouldnt take one. I had it on manual with flash mode but since im a complete novice to DSLR's I'm sure there was some rookie mistake I was making, the worst thing is I had enough time as it swam around a bit seeming to not know what to do. I then tried to get closer through all sorts of jaggy bushes and brambles but it had gone by the time I got round to that side..or so I thought. I walked round to the far side (it was at the side closest to the road) to see if I could see it or anything else but nothing, not even any frogs. The I heard bushes crackling back at the other side. I rushed over but again nothing. It either left the pond and headed for the road or over the opposite bank to where I approached and into the stream.
Again I'm sure it was a mink but something is telling me it just might have been an otter. Maybe this is how people feel when they think they have seen a big cat.
So anyways I'll go down in daylight tomorrow and take a few pics. Should I be looking for any telltale signs that either animal has been about? It's pretty muddy about there so it's possible there may be tracks.
Also just realised the very frogs I saved earlier could have become dinner for whatever it was
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