A Proper Mink Coat

This little guy seemed remarkably unconcerned about my presence this afternoon:

This is an American Mink (Neovison vison), a rather large member of the weasel family. He was hunting the rocks along the side of N. Pt. Marina, hoping to find some mice for dinner.

This is the same species that mink coats are made of, and these days they are intensively farmed for their fur. Here in the US and in Canada, this is a cause for concern, since domesticated mink are genetically distinct from wild ones by now. When they escape, some are able to survive, and can dilute the gene pools of wild mink in the area. (1)

In Europe, this is even more of a concern -- in addition to farm escapes, wild mink have been released in a number of countries as a source of fur. As they are semiaquatic predators, it isn't surprising that they've been implicated in declines of muskrats, at least in Poland. (2) (Muskrats are a favored food in their native range as well.) These days, mink control programs are common throughout Europe, (3)  but they are hampered by continuing escapes of domesticated mink. (4)

There does appear to be some hope in this regard, though. Some island populations have actually been eradicated, in part through careful consideration of how the mink respond to trapping pressure. (5) Modelling efforts suggest that eradication may even be possible in some mainland populations. (3)

Of course, my little model is a native mink, and there's no pressure at all to get rid of him. Which means he's still free to consider me a curiosity:

(1) Kidd, A. G., Bowman, J., Lesbarreres, D., & SCHULTE‐HOSTEDDE, A. I. (2009). Hybridization between escaped domestic and wild American mink (Neovison vison). Molecular Ecology, 18(6), 1175-1186.

 

(2) Brzeziński, M., Romanowski, J., Żmihorski, M., & Karpowicz, K. (2010). Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) decline after the expansion of American mink (Neovison vison) in Poland. European journal of wildlife research, 56(3), 341-348.

 

(3) Zabala, J., Zuberogoitia, I., & González-Oreja, J. A. (2010). Estimating costs and outcomes of invasive American mink (Neovison vison) management in continental areas: a framework for evidence based control and eradication. Biological invasions, 12(9), 2999-3012.

 

(4) Zalewski, A., Michalska-Parda, A., Bartoszewicz, M., Kozakiewicz, M., & Brzeziński, M. (2010). Multiple introductions determine the genetic structure of an invasive species population: American mink< i> Neovison vison</i> in Poland. Biological Conservation, 143(6), 1355-1363.

 

(5) Bodey, T. W., Bearhop, S., Roy, S. S., Newton, J., & McDonald, R. A. (2010). Behavioural responses of invasive American mink Neovison vison to an eradication campaign, revealed by stable isotope analysis. Journal of applied ecology, 47(1), 114-120.

 

(6) Zalewski, A., Michalska‐Parda, A., Ratkiewicz, M., Kozakiewicz, M., Bartoszewicz, M., & Brzeziński, M. (2011). High mitochondrial DNA diversity of an introduced alien carnivore: comparison of feral and ranch American mink Neovison vison in Poland. Diversity and Distributions, 17(4), 757-768.