Is this a Mink?

[FUDGEY]

I got this on the camera trap last night and at first I thought it was a Mink, but looking again it looks a bit well built. Can any one shed any light on it please?

14th February 2012 Mink | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[htcdude]

It's not playing on my PC, but that might just be me

Nige

[Tringa]

I agree with your comment about it being well built, all the mink I have seen have been slim, lithe animals. This one seems to bumble along a bit.

It seems to have some white or light markings around the face and ears that suggest polecat, but the rest of the fur looks a bit dark, though I guess there are crossed polecats around that may be dark.

The Mammal Society site does mention mink may have white markings on the chin or throat, but it also says these are not often visible in the live animal.

I can't be sure but I'd say it is not mink and more like polecat sort of thing (sorry this is not very specific).

It would be interesting to know if it is a regular and then you may be able to get some foot prints using a variation of mink rafts -

http://www.gwct.org.uk/documents/gct...idelineslr.pdf


Dave

PS Some good stuff from your camera, very quickly.

[valleyforge]

It's not a mink (Neovison vison)... it's a polecat (Mustela putorius), or more likely (if in your normal Scottish Borders home range) a polecat ferret (Mustela putorius furo).

Looks pretty well nourished.

[DorsetDunk]

often wondered what made the worn paths across fallen trees spanning streams and rivers in my area, have seen badgers paths lead up to them and assumed they were using the trunk to gain excess to the water meadows beyond
mink never sprung to mind but we did have activists release them from farms years ago

i have seen a troop of 6 gambling along the stour that were a variety of colours and markings from chocolate brown to a pale cream all over
creatures do seem to look bulkier at night plus with fur puffed up due to the cold but the face looks rather broad to me

[Dogghound]

I agree its a polecat/polecat-ferret, the white tipped ears and white markings around the face can be seen. Regarding the size mustelids like these are very sexually dimorphic and there is overlap between mink and polecats, both species have larger more thickly set males, which is most likely what this is. They also have much thicker winter coats and hold down higher levels of subcutaneous fat reserves making them bigger looking animals in winter.

[FUDGEY]

Thanks so much guys, is it impossible from this to tell if its a cross or not? Also how rare are Polecats? Ive never seen one in my life and dont even know if they have been recorded in SW Scotland where I live.

[Tringa]

The following is from the SNH site -

"Polecats and ferrets

The polecat (Mustela putorius) was persecuted to extinction in Scotland by the early 20th Century but subsequent (unofficial) reintroductions have resulted in population becoming established in Argyll and possibly Perthshire. The Argyll population and another in Cumbria provide hope that this species could recolonise the west and south-west of Scotland.

The closely-related feral ferret (M. furo) has been bred in a variety of colours and can interbreed with polecats. Those with polecat-type markings, known as 'polecat-ferrets', can be easily confused with true polecats. As ferrets are widely kept in captivity, escaped animals occur almost anywhere, making it difficult to verify the existence of truly feral (self-sustaining wild) populations. Despite the high number of ferrets lost to the wild each year, feral populations are not obvious on the mainland except in Speyside and Sutherland. But they thrive on offshore islands with numerous rabbits and few other carnivores and are already established on Shetland, the Uists, Benbecula, Bute, and Islay."


Dave

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

... is it impossible from this to tell if its a cross or not?

Yes, impossible I'm afraid ... polecats and ferrets are essentially the same animal and hybrids will occur where they coincide in the wild. Polecats, as well as ferrets do vary in pelage quiet a lot, so the hybrids also come in a wide assortment of colourings and markings.

Polecat ferrets are not necessarily recent hybrids with wild polecats, the term just indicates that their markings closely resemble the ancestral form (i.e. the European polecat) ... so the form can occur from a recessive gene occurance that has been selectively bred from, to favour those particular markings.

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Also how rare are Polecats?

Fairly uncommon in your corner of Scotland, I think ... which is why I believe the footage more likely shows a ferret with polecat-like pelage.

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has been engaged in recording the occurances of polecats in the UK and I believe now have the fullest dataset on this mammal. See Polecat for a distribution map.

Incidentally, as Dogghound rightly mentioned, the animal in your video is almost certainly a male (hob), not least because of its bulk (females/jills tend to be more slightly/sleakily framed) ... but because most of the ferrets that survive for any time in the wild tend to be males, or young neutered females.

This is mainly because un-neutered female ferrets remain in oestrus until mated ... perhaps for as long as 6 months ... so that in areas of sparse populations where a suitable male (polecat or ferret) can't be found to mate with them and so bring them out of oestrus, they will eventually succumb to a hormonally-induced anaemia and perish.

This of course is also true of wild polecats of course, and is another one of the limiting factors for the rate of spread of polecats outwards from their current population stronghold in the Welsh Borders.

[Burko]

Originally Posted by DorsetDunk

often wondered what made the worn paths across fallen trees spanning streams and rivers in my area, have seen badgers paths lead up to them and assumed they were using the trunk to gain excess to the water meadows beyond
mink never sprung to mind but we did have activists release them from farms years ago

I've also captured badger, fox, otter, squirrel and human using these bridges too.