Mink

Description

American mink have an elongated body with relatively short limbs and tail. The face is flat and pointed, the toes are partly webbed as an adaptation to the semiaquatic lifestyle. An anal gland secretes a musky secretion, the smell of which is sometimes described as more penetrating than that of skunks. The soft, dense fur is water-repellent, its basic colouration is brown. The chin is coloured white, sometimes white patches are visible on the throat and belly. Through breeding, many colour variations are now available. The animals reach a head trunk length of 30 to 43 cm, a tail length of 13 to 23 cm and a weight of 0.7 to 2.3 kg, whereby the males become considerably heavier than the females. American minks can thus grow much heavier than their European cousins.

Originally, the species was restricted to North America. It occurred in Alaska, nearly all of Canada (except the extreme north), and the core United States (the 48 contiguous states) except the southwestern portions. Since the 1950s, escaped or released animals from mink farms have also spread into Europe, largely displacing the native European mink.

American mink are water-bound. They can be found along rivers and lakes as well as in swamps and marshes. However, they need shore areas densely covered with vegetation. They also inhabit estuaries and coastal islands.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerikanischer_Nerz). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 02 September 2021