Beautiful mink are a real problem for us

THEY MAY LOOK NICE, BUT VORACIOUS PREDATOR IS A RISK TO THE UK’S NATIVE WILDLIFE

I WAS chatting to Rachel, our red squirrel conservation officer, the other day, about the increase in population of our iconic native mammal.

As we chatted, a jet black creature scooted past us on the other side of the window and went under a nearby bench.

It was a mink. This was worrying because children were playing on the nature reserve close by. Mink are not the type of animal to back down if confronted, so it was safest to scoot it away as we had no traps readily available.

While most experts tend to describe mink using the otter as an alternative, I actually thought this specimen looked more like a black squirrel with a much shorter tail.

Mink are smaller than otters and have a more pointed face. They are fairly obvious because they do tend to have that wonderful dark coat that was the beginning of our problems.

American Mink escaped from fur farms in the 1950s and 1960s. They now breed across most of the country.

When I mentioned this to one of my fellow dog walkers in Lancashire, he said there were some animal activists who used to live in the village.

He said: “They used to boast about releasing mink near to here.

“Then they went a bit quiet when they realised the damage they had done. They realised it was a huge mistake.”

That’s right, mink are a voracious predator and will feed on anything small enough to catch.

Water voles have been a major victim and they are now under threat of extinction.

The problem is that mink are fast on land and great swimmers. They hunt on riverbanks and can swim into the burrows of water voles which tend to be at the water line.

It was the second time I have seen a mink, the other being on an allotment in Stretford.

Mink are widespread across most of the United Kingdom.

I need to stress that if you see a mink, it is not a good idea to approach it. Leave it to the experts who will wear protective gear to prevent them being bitten.

Minks are controlled in many places, because conservationists fear a lot of our native creatures will be wiped out in areas where they are prevalent.

Sometimes there is a balance when it comes to protecting nature in the UK.

There are often difficult decisions to make.

Working in conservation your views change. So in the past I would have seen the mink and thought: “What a beautiful creature.” And been impressed at its magnificent hunting skills.

Nowadays I think: “Oh ‘eck that’s a problem for our native wildlife.”

● The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 29,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers. To become a member of the Trust go to the website atlancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust.org. uk.