Species - American Mink (Neovision vison)
Location - River Colne, near to Dalton Bank Nature Reserve, Huddersfield
Grid Ref - SE 16899 18872
On a visit my my local river side spot where I had previously sighted a flash of blue, | returned today to set up a perch and see if I could get an image of a Kingfisher. On arrival at my hide under a fallen tree at the river side I saw a set of prints in the sand, which initially I thought were Otter and was getting a bit excited at the prospect of an otter here. I was just getting set up when I saw movement on the opposite river bank, and there oblivious to my presence was a Mink. It was in and out of gaps in the rocks clearly looking for something to eat. It continued in and out of the rocks heading upstream and eventually out of sight.
American Mink are an invasive species, they were released from fur farms back in the 1960’s by animal right activists, but the escaped mink have now colonised nearly every part of the UK and are mostly responsible for the demise of the resident water vole.
When I got back home I texted my contact at the Environment Agency who frankly wasn’t interested, but directed me to the Invasive Species Secretariat who advised me to submit my sighting on I-record (a free app available to anyone). I submitted my sighting with some photos, and a few days later I got a message to say that my sighting had been accepted. So what happens next, nothing is the answer, I am currently trying to make contact with Syngenta who own the land, and have a good track record in local conservation projects. I’m hopeful that they will try and capture this ferocious killer. Needless to say I didn’t see much after sighting the mink.
