There’s a mink in my back garden, what to do?

[tearingmyhearout242]

I live in an area not far from where there used to be a mink farm years ago. It got shut down but many escaped/were let loose and it’s not unheard of to see minks in the local area.

The past week I’ve been waking up and finding remains of dead rodents in the garden. Often there isn’t much left. I thought maybe it was a local cat. Except yesterday evening I saw something black and slinky run across the garden. Having seen a mink in a local park before I recognised it as a mink.

DH went wandering around the garden and found a burrow, it goes underneath the shed. He left an old unused camera there overnight and we did in fact catch footage of it leaving the burrow and going back in later. It even sniffed the camera. It’s adorable, but we can’t just leave it when they are so dangerous to natural wildlife.

DH wants to try and catch it himself. But there don’t seem to be any mink sanctuaries etc we could send it to. I assume due to them being an invasive species. I just want to get an exterminator in to get rid of it humanely ASAP, especially as we are trying to move. I’m sick of all of the dead rodents.

@Adeleskirts

They are vicious and highly aggressive . Call the rspca.

We got one in the house once, bugger ran in and dived under the sofa. Fortunately it left again,

Minks are the only animal which kills for sport. Not for food. Not for fear. For sport.

Umm.... The domestic cat?!

Yeah, mink are an invasive species. People actually hunt them in a similar fashion to foxes. I've seen one on the river, an absolutely capable and ruthless predator. Unfortunately, and I am an animal lover and vegan, including a wildlife lover, but I think you should contact your local wildlife trust or wildlife groups over RSPCA, I suspect they may not be able to say outright but they would probably advise you to look into humane options, yes

I once found what I thought was an injured ferret by the road. I took it to the vet who informed me that it was a mink. It was therefore humanely put down. I'm not sure what I would do in your situation OP.

@Adeleskirts

They are vicious and highly aggressive . Call the rspca.

We got one in the house once, bugger ran in and dived under the sofa. Fortunately it left again,

Minks are the only animal which kills for sport. Not for food. Not for fear. For sport.

Foxes. Badgers. Badgers will burrow into a chicken shed and slaughter every single chicken. Dogs can sometimes do this sort of thing too. Cats.

Mink are not a native species. All the animal rights people who released them into the wild in the UK have caused terrible harm to our native wildlife by letting loose such a ruthless killer into the countryside. They have driven some species to the verge of extinction.

Moralising and comparisons with other species from the ‘live and let live’ brigade are pointless. If you don’t like the bits of dead rodent around the place just wait until bird nesting season!

Either let it be or trap and kill it humanely (or find someone who will do it for you).

If you want a bit of sport and don't give much of a stuff about the welfare of your husband or the mink, let him enact his plan of catching it and taming it as a pet to go to a mink lover. But be prepared to drive him to A and E when it bites his fingers to the bone.

Otherwise either leave it alone or get a local gamekeeper to catch and despatch it- you would need to check the trap at least couple of times a day. You can catch it yourself baiting a cage trap with cat food but then you have to kill it quickly instead of fannying about wondering what to do with it and drowning is inhumane. You need to have a plan before you set a trap.

Overitall1 cats definitely also kill for fun. I think pretty much all species of domestic and large cat enjoy a bit of killing for fun.

Op good luck sorting out your mink issue!

humanely kill it and make a mink cape for a chihuahua.
or leave it be

Somebody brought a mink to us at work (vets), as they wanted to save it. After a bit of research, we had to contact natural England. Basically, you need a license to keep one and you get fined for letting them go. RSPCA said they could take it, but admitted they'd just put it to sleep. So, we put it to sleep.
Get in touch with natural England. They'll tell you what to do.

Oh, and I saw a nature programme once, about a pod of orcas, it tormented a poor whale and calf for about 8 hours. Finally killing the calf. And all they apparently ate was the jaw. That was sad to watch! Killing for fun.
But we're the worst!

Would the council do anything? It’s a housing association property (which we are exchanging mutually for another HA property).

Or we could get the next door neighbour over. He’s an old ex-farmer with a gun. We once had a wild rabbit in the garden obviously dying from Myxomatosis, suffering immensely and he came and shot it for us.

But we’d have to trap it first. I want it done professionally but will no professionals come out until August?

@overitall1

Minks are the only animal which kills for sport. Not for food. Not for fear. For sport.

Apart from humans presumably?

And dolphins. They kill porpoises and young dolphins for fun, like a cat will play with a mouse.

Unlike some posters here, I've had a good Google and it's clear that mink have a huge impact on local birds and their eggs.
I didn't bother looking any further.
Before anyone tries to flame me for supposedly being unkind, it might be worth thinking about our own native species.

Total townie here, didn’t know what a mink was so I looked it up…I’d die if I saw one of those in my garden

*There don't seem to be any sanctuaries"

Well there's this, but I don't know if they accept mink; they'd probably tunnel out or bite all the staff senseless: furandfeatherswythall.weebly.com/

A hat, perhaps, since you wouldn't have enough for a coat?

This thread is strange, anything to do with animals becomes so bizarrely polarised and illogical.

OP you are completely correct. Mink are beautiful intelligent animals but they are not part of our ecology. So you can either kill one mink, OR you can let it live knowing that one mink will kill hundreds of rodents, water vole (desimating populations coutrywide) and birds.

You are highly unlikely to find a sanctuary to take it. As you are in an area with mink the nature reserves in the area are likely to be actively controlling. Although they probably wont be able to help you directly they may be able to reccomend their contractor who traps and dispatches.

For all of you crying about how evil it is to kill the mink think of it this way... humans are responsible for introducing mink therefore we are responsible for the desimation of native species that they have caused. So dont we have a responsibility to do something? Why is the minks life more valuable than the water voles? Invasive species are one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss globally. In New Zealand introduced species have caused multiple extinctions and now the general public trap in their back yards - I'm not saying that's in anyway a nice situation, but it does recognize the gravity of the situation.

"Or we could get the next door neighbour over. He’s an old ex-farmer with a gun. We once had a wild rabbit in the garden obviously dying from Myxomatosis, suffering immensely and he came and shot it for us.

But we’d have to trap it first. I want it done professionally but will no professionals come out until August?"

Well there you go. Talk to the neighbour first to check he is willing to shoot it if you trap it. DH reckons about £25 for a cage trap in a farm supply shop, gun shop or you can buy them online.

@DillDanding

It’s a bit like red signal crayfish. Also an issue where I live. My son has a trapping license and catches them and we enjoy crayfish Alfredo.

Mink Alfredo, anyone?

There’s a pond in our garden which it probably likes.

I imagine it will have had the goldfish. Not seen them all week though previously have gone weeks without seeing them.

It should be shot. It's a risk to the wildlife who should be there. Don't waste sympathy on it because it's furry.

I've seen more rats in the city than I ever did in the country. Leave the mink be

@overitall1

Minks are the only animal which kills for sport. Not for food. Not for fear. For sport.

Apart from humans presumably?

Lots of animals kill otherwise than for food and from fear.

If you're going to get the ex farmer to shoot it, fgs make 100% sure it is a mink also make sure he's a good shot.

Good point.
Minks have a bushy tail, unlike otters. They are also smaller, as a rule. But if you're unsure, there's bound to be someone around who will know.