American Mink

Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Chordata

        Subphylum: Vertebrata

              Superclass: Tetrapoda

                     Class: Mammalia

                           Order: Carnivora

                                   Family: Mustelidae  

         American mink are medium to dark brown in color with a white chin and usually white spots along the belly. The fur is very dense, glossy, and water repellant. They have a long weasel-like body with short legs. The tail is slightly bushy. The feet are semi webbed and the toes end with small but sharp claws. Mink have long whiskers, small rounded eyes, and small fuzzy ears. Males weigh 2 to 3.5 pounds and are about 2 feet long. Females are about 20 percent smaller in size and weight.

Mink can be found almost anywhere in Canada and North American except the dry southwest regions.

Mink primarily feed on small mammals, birds, eggs, frogs, crayfish, fish, lizards, small snakes and insects. They are true carnivores and eat just about anything they can catch. Mink are excellent hunters and depend mostly on their sense of smell when looking for prey.

          Mink are mostly aquatic. They are excellent swimmers. They live by the fresh waters of lakes, streams, rivers, swamps and marshes. Their den may be abandoned beaver or muskrat dens, hollow logs, or they may dig their own burrow. Mink are active during the night but can often be seen during daylight hours. Mink are solitary and very territorial. Both males and females mark their territory with feces covered in scent produced by the proctodeal glands. They also secrete scent on the throat and chest area, which they rub onto, sticks and rocks. Mink have few natural predators but will be attacked by fox, coyote, and owls.   

          Breeding season is from January to April. Mink are promiscuous and the female mates with as many males as possible. The gestation period varies due to delayed implantation of the embryo but is usually 30 to 79 days. The litter is usually two to six young but there can be as many as ten. Only one litter is produced a year. The young’s eyes will open around 25 days old and they are weaned around 6 weeks. They learn to hunt with their mother when they are eight weeks old then they leave and are sexually mature at less than a year.

          The mink population is very important for regulating the fresh water food chain. Although the American mink is not in severe danger, over trapping can occur when fur prices increase. Clean water and conservation of wetlands, rivers, and lakes is crucial. Over development of the minks habitat is also playing a role in the declining population numbers.

          Mink are considered the most valuable fur animal. Most of the animals used for clothing are raised on commercial fur farms. These farms can produce many different fur color variations. In the wild, mink are considered, by some, as pests because they often raid poultry farms.

This page created by 2001 Zoo Tech student Pamela Perry, Pensacola Junior College