The Living Landscape: Marvelous mink!
- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – One of the treasures and pleasures of taking a walkabout in Lake County is that no two days are alike.
One morning I was on a pelican hunt. As I made my way along the tree-lined boardwalk at Clear Lake State Park the fermented scents of decaying leaves and lively algae guided my walk. The sensuous surroundings nourish me.
I spied an enormous squadron of American white pelicans floating like bright, white living angles between Clear Lake State Park and Lakeside Park, but alas, they were out of reach of my camera lens.
So I thought, wait! I can hear the distinctive calls of red-winged blackbirds singing in the swaying reeds along the lakeshore, and I would love to capture them on camera.
As I stood by the still lakeshore an American mink silently swam across the beach, directly in front of me!
Lake County is full-to-the-brim with a wide variety of mammal species like elk, coyote, bear, fox, deer, raccoon and more. Most are secretive and not easy to spy, and the American mink is no exception.
Related to ferrets, these elongated creatures thrive in areas near water and wetlands, making their meal choices of amphibians, fish and crustaceans readily available. American mink have also been known to consume gulls and cormorants by first drowning them.
Other carnivorous relations to the mink are river otters, which are larger, weighing in at up to 30-odd pounds and possess a streamlined tail, while American mink are cat-like in size and weigh around 2 to 4 pounds.
Mink's predators include great horned owls, bobcats, coyotes and foxes.
American mink wear dense fur coats that are sprigged with greasy guard-hairs that provide waterproofing.
Minks were avidly hunted in the 19th century when their thick pelts were used for fur coats. In some places, such as the Pacific Northwest they are still hunted.
Around 1960 scientists made a study of minks, along with ferrets, cats and skunks to determine behavior characteristics, and they found that minks were able to surpass the other critters in identifying objects and select them from memory. Who knew slinky minks were so intelligent?
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”