American Mink

Description:

What I believe to be a young or female Mink (due to size and white patches on its fur)

Habitat:

Searching long the river banks, in and on top of the dam catching fish in the open areas of water. It slipped into a 5-6 inch hole in a pile of rocks along the river and did not come back out while I was there.

Notes:

I watched this fellow for about an hour. I was near a dam on the river that helps keep a large area of water open when other areas have frozen over in extremely cold temperatures. On this particular day the high was 9 degrees Fahrenheit and the low was -11. I first observed this fellow swimming in the river in front of me but mistook it for a Muskrat until it popped back up on the opposite side of the river and I could see by its tail, long ferret-like body and loping movements that it was either a Mink or a Fischer. After about 50 minutes of it running up and down a small length of the river, up, over and above the dam fishing it eventually came closer to where I sat on the ground. When it got a bit too close for comfort or safety I slowly stood up causing it to stop in its tracks. After a five minute stand-off she loped directly towards me and disappeared into the opening mentioned above. In the area at this same time were: Trumpeter (numerous) and Tundra (1) Swans, Common Goldeneye (three males) and a Kangaroo Rat. Also in the immediate area I could hear what I believe to be a Belted Kingfisher, though I never saw it and I believe they normally leave our area in November...