Wild American Mink Invade British Wildlife Reserves
Published by Mink only live for around eight years in the wild but Britain now has a thriving non indigenous population which in no respecter of presevation orders and wildlife reserves.
During the 1930’s the UK was invaded by mink from the US. How did they get here?
Wild mink are not native to Britain but way back in the nineteen thirties; they were imported into the country from US where they are, of course, plentiful. The reason for this was that Britain wanted to get into the fur industry and mink coats, scarves, stoles, jackets and coats were certainly in vogue at that time. It was very fashionable to own and wear mink and many ladies longed to own a mink coat. However, the rights and wrongs of the fur industry is not what this article is about.
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In the wild these creature are normally dark brown in colour but because the British population was originally captive, it is possible to see the white, and black markings developed by breeding mink for the colour of their fur on farms.
Mink are sweet looking little creatures a bit like looking at the face of a cat, but their nature is extremely predatory and they are more akin to weasels than cats. The male, living wild will grow up to two feet in length and weight about two pounds, but in captivity it reaches as much as seven pounds in weight. Females are a couple of inches shorter in length and weigh less. The length of the tail which can reach nine inches makes these beautiful looking creatures appear much bigger.
However, despite their pleasing appearance these animals are devastating the British Countryside. After fur went out of fashion many were released into the wild, animal activists released thousands and many escaped. The animals had their freedom but they upset the balance of the food chain among native wildlife. They are found everywhere in Britain except for the mountains of the Lake District, Scotland and Wales. They tend to live where there is easy access to water and are even found in towns where there is a river. Along the coasts of Scotland they also live along the shore and are becoming a problem to sea life in some areas.
Mink are very predatory and they are killing vast numbers of small mammals like water voles, native birds like wrens and robins, and decimating rivers and lakes where salmon and trout breed. Their only real predator in Britain is the fox (and man).
The Department of Environment is looking for ways to reduce the mink population and has resorted to eradicating them totally from some of the islands of the Outer Hebrides where the wildlife is being totally decimated by the invaders. Culling is one solution but there must surely be another way to reduce the population.
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11 Responses to “Wild American Mink Invade British Wildlife Reserves”
On December 28, 2009 at 11:24 am
great post.. well written.. thanks for sharing.
On December 28, 2009 at 11:32 am
This is very interesting!
On December 28, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Fascinating animals and article.
On December 28, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Great work and enjoyed the read, its terrible how they are destructing our wildlife and should be brought into line some how! its like a flip reverse situation – people freed them to help and they did the reverse effect, just goes to show how not all things work out well i guess!
Thankyou for this great article,
best regards,
Aaron
On December 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm
wow didnt’ know any of that! Thanks for sharing!
On December 29, 2009 at 6:40 pm
This is interesting. Gosh what a waste to just destroy them and not use the pelts for something. There are millions of needy people in this world. Man needs to balance their acts. We shouldn’t just waste anything. Thank you for sharing this news. Sorry for the soap box
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On December 30, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Introduction of exotic species can really upset the balance of an ecosystem. Great info.
On January 1, 2010 at 1:13 pm
wow never realised they’d got so prevalent – shame they are so destructive to the indigenous wildlife
On January 4, 2010 at 2:50 am
That’s really sad in many ways. Man introduced them to the UK because of their fur (which isn’t their fault at all) and now want to get rid of them because they have no economic value and are (what a surprise!) destroying the wildlife in an environment where they have few natural predators (again not their fault).
So basically the minks are paying the price of people’s greed.
Regards,
Inna
On January 18, 2010 at 11:54 am
Isn’t this the way life is? They get punished for man’s greed.
On June 16, 2010 at 11:13 am
Ireland is also being overrun by these creatures and while they too can be classed as wildlife they are causing devistation to almost all our indidgenous wildfoul. They have wiped out entire flocks of Coot and Waterhen.
Control is badly needed and that is why the Irish Parks and Wildlife Service have engaged a whole hoard of “catchers” in an effort to try and control them.
Yours is an excellent article on the menace that they are.
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