Mink or Polecat... control

[steveR]

Trundling back through teh stackyard today on the little tractor and fast, slinky animal shot across the track on front of me. It wasnt, the JRT x Daschund, so my next guess was Polecat or Mink.

Probably 15-18" total length, very dark, even black. Herself has lost some Quail a while back and I wonderd if it was something like this.

Best way to catch please? I think we might have a run, or I do have various cage traps about. I have a MK6 Fenn trap, would that be enough?

 

[Yale]

Any water courses nearby?

Apparently they can be quite brave. (Mink)

 

[steveR]

Any water courses nearby?

Yes, 200m away, and Otter (and Mink) sign has been noted there in the past. Where I saw it is close to a pond though

Apparently they can be quite brave. (Mink)

More than One terrier then....

 

[Yale]

There is a design of a floating trap for mink which involves clay to detect footprints, maybe a pipe, haven’t looked further. I spotted some mink on our river and managed to get some pics.

 

[Yale]

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Sand or clay box. Yes.
@Cowabunga may know of the pack that hunts or hunted mink in his area. They were very effective.
I was riding my elderly BSA near Hambleden one summer and a mink tried to bite the front wheel
Vicious baskets these.
SS

 

[steveR]

Sand or clay box. Yes.
@Cowabunga may know of the pack that hunts or hunted mink in his area. They were very effective.
I was riding my elderly BSA near Hambleden one summer and a mink tried to bite the front wheel
Vicious baskets these.
SS

Sir needs something a little quicker, I feel......

 

[solo]

I went to a mink farm in Denmark whilst at college and they were fed what looked like dog meat so you could try that in a live trap.

 

[steveR]

I went to a mink farm in Denmark whilst at college and they were fed what looked like dog meat so you could try that in a live trap.

that is what i'll put out tomorrow...

Using a mink trap, if I can locate it.

 

[Kidds]

I'd say mink were pretty distinctive by how black they appear and how completely fearless they are. I can well believe one biting a motorbike as they really don't seem to give a feck.
Polecats don't do your hens/quail any good but rare enough for me not to want to kill them. I have caught them often in the past in cage traps, the small rat/squirrel size gets them but there are bigger ones designed for rabbits that work well. Beware they really really stink!

 

[Cowabunga]

Sand or clay box. Yes.
@Cowabunga may know of the pack that hunts or hunted mink in his area. They were very effective.
I was riding my elderly BSA near Hambleden one summer and a mink tried to bite the front wheel
Vicious baskets these.
SS

No, haven’t a clue. Not into hunting at all, probably because I have no sheep and haven’t since around 1970 when I was starting secondary school. Neighbours have sheep though and they take far more interest in vermin control than I. The only worry I have and am powerless to control is the preponderance of badgers in the area that seem to be increasing greatly in number annually. There will soon be more brocks than moos around here.

 

[tractorsandcows]

I went to a mink farm in Denmark whilst at college and they were fed what looked like dog meat so you could try that in a live trap.

Was this dog meat dog food or slices from a dead dog or a whole dog carcase

 

[solo]

Was this dog meat dog food or slices from a dead dog or a whole dog carcase

Pedigree. Chum

 

[Bald Rick]

Game Conservancy have (or had) mink raft designs as they were the lead organisation in trapping when there was a mass release many years ago.
They use them on the river and ponds on my farm to try and help the water vole.
One thing - otters will drive a mink away from it's territory but mink are quite happy away from water so they'll just go elsewhere

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

I'd say mink were pretty distinctive by how black they appear and how completely fearless they are.

I've seen them all colours while I've been hunting & fishing, from sandy grey through brown to black, often with a white patch under the chin.

Once saw one on Romney Marsh, looking down off a road bridge into the water, he had his gob right round the middle of a Pike the same size as himself and was ragging it underwater.

 

[dun tilling]

Pedigree. Chum

Ok Pal.
sorry couldn't resist

 

[pycoed]

Mink are easy to trap they are so inquisitive, they can't help themselves. You'll need a good airgun to kill them in the trap though. When I haven't had a gun, the mink are just as keen to get at the terrier as the terrier is to get them - no contest though!
You'd need a few GOOD terriers to catch one loose: they are like lightning - I've had some hugely entertaining hunts on mink with my two terriers, but the mink won every time - that's where the traps come in.
Haven't seen one here since the otters came back - they don't tolerate another predator on their patch & mink are way too small to compete.