Mink on camera
I just received an email from one of our volunteers who leases out a small portion of the Whiterock Conservancy landscape during deer archery season. He sent along a great picture of an animal that I rarely see at Whiterock taken by a trail camera he set up. Even though he uses it primarily to keep track of the deer in the area, I think that George likes to look at the images of all of the animals (and sometimes confused hikers) that the trail camera catches just as much as he likes seeing the big bucks and does. Turkeys, squirrels, the ubiquitous deer and coyotes comprise the bulk of the trail camera action, but on October 4, George’s camera caught a mink!
I have only seen a mink one time on Whiterock Conservancy property—three summers ago when I first began doing research up here, walking along the river after dusk. I asked around and a long-time resident of the area made an anecdotal observation that there are more mink in the Middle Raccoon River valley than when he and his father were trapping them…
Mink are really interesting anima
ls: domestic cat-sized carnivores that flourish near any perennial body of water. In Iowa, they’re found mostly along rivers and large streams and near marshes and wetlands. They are carnivores and consume fish, crayfish, mussels, and salamanders in aquatic environments and on land, hunt for voles, shrews, mice, snakes and a variety of insects. Mink nest in bank burrows left by beaver or muskrat and commandeered by mink, but they will also make dens in natural cavities in streambanks, under trees and in drift piles that they line with grass, leaves, or feathers. Keep any eye out for their tracks along streambanks or on sandbars, and watch for the generally nocturnal animals after dark. Like George, you may be looking for one mammal, bird, or fish most of the time…but let yourself get excited by all of the diversity out there.
Have you seen anything cool or rare on Whiterock Conservancy property? Email me with pictures! elizabeth@whiterockconservancy.org
