Mink now a major menace on farms

February 1982

A desire by fashion-conscious Irish women to have a mink coat in their wardrobe has caused a major headache for Wexford sheep and poultry farmers.

The mink, which are unpleasant rat-like animals, were imported to Ireland from Canada to be bred on special farms and subsequently to go into the making of expensive mink coats.

Unfortunately, many escaped from farms, including from Wexford farms, and went on to become wild and dangerous predators.

Such a development would not have been a problem in their native Canada. There, their numbers are controlled by their natural predator, the polecat.

However, Ireland doesn’t have any polecats, and therefore the mink have free rein.

Wild mink may not be considered too much of a problem by the public. Any animals that go into the making of such beautiful coats cannot be all bad, they might think.

The opposite is in fact the case. Acting Chief Agricultural Officer, Bill Kehoe, describes mink as ‘dangerous, ugly creatures, that can attack sheep, poultry, and even humans’.

They breed much bigger and better in the wild than they do on farms, and are causing havoc in South Wexford in particular. Many young lambs thought by farmers to have been killed by dogs have in fact been killed by mink.

Last week, a Taghmon man caught a mink in a specially prepared trap at Modubeg river. He was Joe Sydney, Chairman of Taghmon Gun Club, and he had great pleasure in presenting the body to Modubeg farmer James Whitty.

Mr Whitty earlier had four ewes and a lamb killed on his farm. An examination by a veterinary surgeon confirmed that the animals had been killed by mink.

Mink have a poisonous saliva which quickly kills their prey.

The mink caught by Mr Sydney in his underwater trap was 26 inches long, weighed ten pounds, and had fierce teeth and claws.

The dead mink was one of the careless ones. They are proving to be very elusive, just coming out at night and being able to survive both on land and in water. According to Mr Kehoe, they are more of a problem than rats, which can be killed by poison.

So seriously is Wexford Committee of Agriculture treating the problem that an official from the Department of Agriculture is to attend the next meeting to detail to members how mink can be eradicated.

He will bring with him a special trap designed to catch mink and it is hoped that similar ones will soon be in extensive use by farmers around the county.

‘We will be telling farmers what to do to catch mink after that meeting,’ said Mr Kehoe.

‘ There is a set programme to follow, and I will be issuing details. By working together, we can hopefully eliminate this scourge from Wexford farms.’