Vocabulary
- Semiaquatic – living partly on land and partly in the water.
- Mustelid – a member of the family Mustelidae, which is comprised of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, minks, otters, ferrets, fishers, martens, polecats and wolverines, among others. They are fur-bearing and possess well developed anal scent glands.
American Mink
Fun Facts
- One way to tell a mink apart from a weasel is that mink have a white chin, which weasels don’t. Mink are also larger and have darker fur than weasels.
- Like other members of the weasel family, mink have a long, tubular body. This body shape does not retain heat as well as a stockier body type does, and therefore is associated with higher metabolism. This explains why they are very active and aggressive in their constant search for prey.
- There used to be 3 species of mink; Sea, European and American. The Sea Mink are now extinct and the European are endangered, but the American Mink is stable.
- American mink were introduced into Europe for the purpose of fur farming beginning in the 1920’s. Due to escapes and/or intentional releases, they are now invasive there.