Mink might look cute in photographs, but for muskrats, ducks, fish, frogs and other species they prey upon they’re a nightmare.
“They will eat anything they can catch. They are true carnivores,” retired wildlife biologist Franz Camenzind told Cowboy State Daily.
Brief Glimpses
Wyoming has a healthy population of mink, which are members of the weasel family. But they’re seldom seen, and most folks lucky enough to see one only catch quick glimpses, he said.
“They stick close to the ground. They’ve got short legs and they move fast through vegetation,” he said.
Wildlife photographer Stacy O’Nell said she felt lucky to capture some pictures of a mink while on a photo tour in Yellowstone National Park last Monday.
“He just crawled up on a rock really quickly, and I was the only one in the group that got photos of him,” she said.
“He stared at me for a brief moment. Then, ‘boom,’ it was over, he was gone,” O’Nell said.
The mink was spotted in the Madison River near the Seven Mile Bridge, she said.
Rivers and streams are good places to see mink, even if the encounters are brief, Camenzind said.
In January 2024, a hiker in Curt Gowdy State Park captured a rare video of a mink catching a rabbit.
Effective Predators
John Koprowski, a zoology professor and dean of the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources, agreed that mink stick close to water.
“I have seen them around Jenny Lake” in Grand Teton National Park, he said.
Occasionally, a mink will get brave and “go cross-country” between water sources, he added.
Mink have an array of prey species, and they can mirror one of their cousins, pine martens, in their hunting tactics, Koprowski said.
“Just like martens, they are able to move through vegetation and burrows with that (long, thin) body shape. They eat small mammals, frogs, snakes and even fish and crayfish,” he said.
They Also Hammer Birds
Mink also have a taste for young birds.
John Eckman, vice president of the Wyoming Trappers’ Association, told Cowboy State Daily, he frequently catches mink, and thinks it’s important to control their numbers.
“I’ve caught quite a few. They’re a member of the weasel family, so that naturally makes them aggressive,” he said.
When mink are left unchecked, they can take a heavy toll on the young among game bird populations, including “waterfowl, turkeys and pheasants,” Eckman said.
Camenzind said in once instance, he saw a mink kill and eat an entire clutch of baby mallard ducks.
“They are pretty vicious predators,” he said.
‘A Tough Family’
Mink don’t fear going after prey larger than themselves, Camenzind said.
Muskrats should watch out when mink are around, he said.
“Day in and day out, muskrats may be the favorite prey of minks,” he said.
Taking down bigger prey seems to run in the weasel family, said Camenzind, who was onsite during the early days of re-establishing Wyoming’s black-footed ferret population in the early 1980s.
Ferrets are close relatives of mink. They prey on prairie dogs, similar to how mink love to eat muskrats.
“That speaks to how tough minks are. And prairie dogs are bigger than ferrets. It’s a tough family,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
