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Our house overlooks part of the River Irwell in Rossendale - it has herons, kingfishers etc and tonight it has a mink!
First time I've ever seen one so had to Google it, turns out they are highly invasive and will decimate local indigenous wildlife. I kinda look after my stretch - clean out any rubbish when the levels are low in summer, clear the banking of balsam etc and love watching the flashes of blue from the kingfishers and the local 
heron perched on a rock fishing.
Not sure how to progress this - anyone trapped/dealt with mink?
Mink are bad news. Especially for water voles.
I met a guy in Dorset who had a mink trapping project primarily to save the dwindling vole population.
Not sure how to progress this - anyone trapped/dealt with mink?
Nope, but the 'dealt' bit is key, as if you do manage to trap one you need to dispatch it. I wouldn't want to do that without a gun quite frankly (which a quick Google suggests is indeed the recommended dispatch method when trapping them in the UK). First thing I read suggests an airgun is suitable - I'd say that's a bit borderline personally, would certainly need to be air rifle right up at the legal power limit.
Aye, grass it up to the river folk.
Waterlife Recovery Trust - Saving our native wildlife from the introduced American Mink
or train Bert to hunt mink 😉 😊
Saw a mink on an Island near Plockton in Scotland kill and drag off a full sized herring gull.
It wasn't pretty.
They are vicious little buggers, although I tolerate most critters these need to go to save native wildlife.
Shows what happens due to the fur trade and well meaning idiots releasing things without thinking of the consequences.
When they are swimming is it easy to tell the difference between a mink and an otter ?
Mink is 1/4 the size, darker fur, although if he's wearing a cap and goggles it makes it much harder
That pic could be an otter to me but it's a bit blurry, can't believe an otter is 4x bigger
Couple of quotes from Wikipedia
Mink:-
Weights vary with sex and season, with males being heavier than females. In winter, males weigh 1–3 lb
Otter:-
The otter's average body weight is 7 to 12 kg (15 to 26 lb),
I'd back the otter in a straight scrap... until it got bitten on the bollocks, anyway
It’s not all bad if the mink eat signal crayfish.
Anyone know what the difference between lentils and tarka dhal is, incidentally?
When they are swimming is it easy to tell the difference between a mink and an otter ?
Yes.
If you just see the head its an otter. Like a croc
A mink swims higher in the water you will see its back. Like a loch ness monster.
Anyone know what the difference between lentils and tarka dhal is, incidentally?
Not much difference, but the Tarka dhal is a little bit 'otter
Go back at night with a torch ..otters eyes reflect orange assuming we saw otters on the tweed? One popped up right next to our boat quite cool really😁
I have been told that on the water of leith the otters that have returned to the river have chased away or killed the mink that were there
Otters will not tolerate the presence of mink, and being significantly bigger, and better swimmers, the mink will always come off second best. The expansion of the otter population nationwide has been beneficial in reducing the mink population by natural means, in much the same way that the expansion of the Pine Marten population into more and more of Britain is seeing a natural decline in the grey squirrel population - grey squirrels have few defences against martens, they are heavier and less agile than red squirrels, and reds naturally co-exist with martens.
I have nothing but contempt for the ‘animal rights’ campaigners fighting against the fur industry by releasing non-native predators into an ecosystem that had no natural defences against them, only humans with traps and guns to kill them, until otters were gradually reintroduced, after their near-extinction by humans with traps, dogs and guns…
Who would do such a reckless thing!
Go back at night with a torch ..otters eyes reflect orange assuming we saw otters on the tweed? One popped up right next to our boat quite cool really😁
The tweed is riddled with otters.
There are quite a few mink here on Mull, escapees from fur farms and a real threat to ground nesting birds. We had an encounter with one at Ardalanish where it had found a large dead flatfish and was endeavouring to drag it back to its den. I was able to get within a few feet- it was really feisty. Fortunately the dogs weren’t that interested. Reported it to the authorities who will trap and exterminate them.
Hopefully the rivers trust folk will be able to offer more insight into mink trapping, they might even be looking for volunteers?
diy route: https://www.gwct.org.uk/advisory/guides/mink-raft-guidelines/
Going off at a slight tangent. Get yourself to Sheffield. Was on the train there last night and someone got on with a ferret on a lead with them.
Also one of the kids saw a stoat kill a rabbit when he was about 6 at a national trust type formal garden. We checked to see if he was okay as we thought he may have been a bit traumatised. He informed us it was the best thing he'd seen ever 😂
saw a mink a couple of years ago at my bit of the canal up here in north glasgow. it walked across the canal bridge toward me, and I mean right up to me. if it wasn't for my dog barking at it it would have likely walked over my feet. fearless.
On our local FB page so many people say, 'oooh I saw a gorgeous animal', then produce a photo and it's obviously a mink. Then there is an outcry (it's not their fault they were released), when a person (usually me), explains how these mink are not cute. We don't see any ducklings on the nearby wildlife ponds as they all get scoffed.
Don't get me started on the stupid people who bought terrapins and dumped these in our water courses, when the creatures started to grow. These are vicious like the mink.
Too many mink around here, we have 2 canals, a river and some tourist type ponds and these animals are not that scared of humans. Although I did find out that they stay within a 5 km radius of where they were born.
You can also get in touch with your local 'wildlife trust', maybe try an RSPB group too.
Some ponds I fish have the odd mink reported on them (I've seen something but it was from a fair way off but was too small to be an otter but could have been a big rat). Met a local "gun enthusiast" who'd been asked to visit the ponds a couple of times - nice chap and I can attest to him being a very good shot!
The Waterlife Recovery link that I filled in aren't active in my area.
A farmer friend was coming round this weekend anyway and is now bringing an air rifle that's exactly on the legal limit. The area is away from/clear of people and property etc, he's used to pest control.