American Mink: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Otters and Weasels · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. Minks are tireless swimmers. In warm water, one can keep paddling for 3 hours without a break, wiggling its whole body to move.
2. It hunts mainly by sight and can hear the ultrasonic calls of rodents. Its nose, though, is not very sharp.
3. A mink den is a maze of twisting tunnels with up to eight ways out. The nest room at the end is lined with straw and feathers.
4. In a 1960s study on learning to recognise objects, minks did better than ferrets, skunks and even house cats.
5. Newborn kits are blind and weigh just six grams, with a coat of fine silver-white hair. Their eyes open after 25 days.

The quiz

1. How long can a mink swim without stopping in warm water?

• About 30 seconds
• About 3 hours (correct)
• About 3 days
• About 3 weeks

In warm water a mink can keep swimming for 3 hours.

2. Which of the mink's senses is fairly weak?

• Smell (correct)
• Sight
• Hearing
• All of them

It relies on sight and sharp hearing, but its nose is weak.

3. How many ways out can a mink den have?

• Never more than one
• Over a hundred
• Up to eight (correct)
• None, it is open to the sky

Mink dens have between one and eight exits.

4. In a 1960s learning test, how did minks compare with ferrets, skunks and cats?

• They came last
• They refused to take part
• They did exactly the same
• They did better (correct)

Minks outperformed the other three animals.

5. What is a newborn mink kit like?

• It can swim on its first day
• Blind, weighing about six grams (correct)
• Eyes open, with thick dark fur
• It weighs about one kilogram

Kits are born blind, tiny and covered in fine silvery hair.

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