Mink Minute (How Do You Know You’re Not Seeing an Otter?)
Mink in Turquoise Waters taken April 11.[Photo by Talia Rose]
But there are some distinctions. For instance, the mink doesn’t have the large webbing between its toes as does the river otter and it’s tail is rounded rather than more flattened like the otter’s. Mink also tend to have white patches on their bellies, chins, and chests. And, their nose is pointier than the more rounded otter nose.
Photo of an otter by Kym Kemp. Note the body below the water and the rounder nose.
Talia, who runs the local wildlife website, County Line Wild, says, “The way they swim is the greatest way” to tell the difference. Otters’ heads are visible but their bodies tend to be under water. And, the body of the mink is more on the surface–its back is usually visible as it swims.
Now, hopefully, if you are lucky enough to spot either one, you’ll be able to confidently identify which it is.
Follow Talia Rose for more local wildlife photography here.
More Minks:
- Mink: Have You Ever Seen One in the Wild?
- We Have Baby Minks on the South Fork of the Eel
- Mink Tracks on the Eel River
- American Mink Cub Along the South Fork of the Eel
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Easy peasy. There is the same difference between a mink and an otter as there is between a horse and a cow.
I love all the wildlife photos published here. It reminds us that we still have some of what the world is all about. If you get up before daylight, and sit quietly, Mother Nature will show you all her critters.
Nice to see them making a comeback. We had an entire family of six come through our swimming hole two summers ago while we were there swimming, the kids enjoyed it.
They both eat your ducks so can’t tell by that!
They are their ducks, if they’re eating them.
Beautiful photo. Looks like the mink’s nose is pink (rhymes) and the otter’s is black.
Interesting! Appreciate the information.
Are mink found in the hills, among the (sub)tributaries to the Eel (or other main rivers)? I have only seen (what I believed were) otters up here.
Holy crap that would make a beautiful scarf!
The word you may be looking for is “stole”
Commonly raised in cages as a neck wrap for women a number of animal species, including mink, were abused for this purpose.
Other species were trapped in the wild for the same purpose. My grandmother had one of fox. At least it had briefly known freedom.
Sick comment from an inhumane human who can’t appreciate wildlife for its own sake. Humans are bipedal animals, cannibal.
Silly, they cannae knit, or crochet.
I know the corona virus spread through mink populations in Europe and in Oregon.
Have there been any cases in our wild minks ???
I’m blessed to have a place right on the water, and both live here.
I’ve only ever seen the mink on dry land, never swimming. I’ve only ever seen the otter either swimming or sopping wet.
The critter in this family that I’d really love to see would be the fisher. they’re supposed to be here.. Has anyone ever spotted one?
About five or six years ago we live trapped animal that had got into our chickens and killed five old hens and one old rooster.
It wacked and stacked five hens inside the enclosure like cordwood, and made off with the large rooster, but the rooster got hung up in a secondary fence.
The rooster and maybe one of the hens had been caped.
That was all that was eaten.
I was perplexed as to what might have gotten into the pen. I had never seen anything like it as far as the caping M.O.
No other animal had succeeded in getting into that pen.
It’s simple design had thwarted entry to all other varmints until those old chickens were no longer laying and then this critter bored in.
We used the rooster to set the live trap and in it the next morning was an animal I had never seen before.
It was as large as a boar coon, and had a badger face.
Fishers were in the news around then, with the ones poisoned in the grows.
That’s what we thought it was at first since we had never seen one of those either.
But fishers only get to be 8.5 lbs, according to Google…
My little cat is 8.5 lbs.
It’s tiny.
This thing had to be pushing 25 lbs or more.
It filled that raccoon live trapped to the point that I don’t think it could have turned around. ( Whatever was left of the rooster was in there too)
I’m thinking it was a different member of the weasel family, but we supposedly don’t have them around here…
The wolverine.
Thinking at the time it was a Fisher and that it was relatively rare we released it quickly, without further ado.
I wish we would have gotten a picture.
It was dark brown or black over red, a badger face, and I remember being impressed by the length of the claws…
Oh, yes, I almost forgot, it left one old hen, in obvious shock, otherwise unscathed, wandering around in the pen, apparently only, to tell the tale…
Trinity and Humboldt 47years i have seen 5 fishers. one dead on road. they are few and sneaky/ shy and need their privacy/ space,…. they are incredibly BEAUTIFUL, like Ernie says. Early, quiet ,and lots of patience, no dog. Good luck! They love to eat squirrels, ive seen the chase. WILD KINGDOM!