Mink or Otter?

Robert

Robert

Active Member
Moderator
Joined
Apr 1, 2005
Messages
10,801
Reaction score
6,528
More of a whatzzat than a whyzzat.

I snapped this yesterday but have zero experience of either creature so can't tell whether it's a mink or an otter. Both are pretty rare around here. I'm leaning towards mink but not sure.

There's some tips on telling the difference here but I'm still none the wiser. (e.g. it looked a good bit longer than 40cm but nowhere near 1.2m)

Any ideas?
16641061_10155703187907506_8221847550960274366_n.jpg
 
I couldn't guess without seeing the rest of it.
 
Yeah, difficult to tell from the picture, but I'd say mink, as well. We have a bunch of American mink that hang out in a little loop of shallow calm water off the Detroit River in a park about 5 miles south of me.
The 40cm size would be average body size, not counting that big tail. Seems European mink are about the same as American but have a little white on the face.
 
ilwrath said:
Yeah, difficult to tell from the picture, but I'd say mink, as well. We have a bunch of American mink that hang out in a little loop of shallow calm water off the Detroit River in a park about 5 miles south of me.
The 40cm size would be average body size, not counting that big tail.
Click to expand...

Ah, that makes more sense. I t probably was about 40cm not counting the tail.

Seems European mink are about the same as American but have a little white on the face.
Click to expand...

If it's a mink, it'll be an American variant.
Mink aren't native here but a bunch of American mink both escaped from fur farms and were released into the wild when fur-farming was banned.
 
Robert said:
Ah, that makes more sense. I t probably was about 40cm not counting the tail.



If it's a mink, it'll be an American variant.
Mink aren't native here but a bunch of American mink both escaped from fur farms and were released into the wild when fur-farming was banned.
Click to expand...

Could well be, then. They bunch up on land, and run with a really unique hopping gait. But they stretch out long like that in the water and are surprisingly good swimmers.
 
ilwrath said:
Could well be, then. They bunch up on land, and run with a really unique hopping gait. But they stretch out long like that in the water and are surprisingly good swimmers.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was trotting-cum-bouncing along the side of a wooden jetty in the city centre when I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and initially thought it was a big, domestic cat. By the time I got my 'phone out of my pocket to snap it, it had dived into the river.
 
Yup. They just started hanging around the park by me maybe 10 years ago. First one I saw was bunched up and standing still on land, and I thought it was a young groundhog, until it made a break for it. A few odd hops to the shore, and then it loped all slippery like down the little rocky strip and into the water. That left me completely confused until I looked it up.

Now they're there all the time and patrol the rocky shore for small fish, and slink up around the boardwalk looking for handouts. They're pretty brave so long as you don't look straight at them. Once spotted, they usually make a break for the water. So again, behavior fits, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top