Yesterday, Lars took these photos of a mink trail, 2x2 bounding through the snow. His path ran along the pond/forest edge of the peninsula in the northern section of Delaney. The mink dove down into the snow, then backed out, turned and jumped over a fallen tree. You can see where he placed his feet to look over the tree before he jumped. Peterson's Guide says that mink dens tunnels are 4 inches in diameter. This snow tunnel looks to be 3 inches in diameter. In powder like this, how can one tell the difference between mink and weasel?
I saw some similar mink behavior this morning - will post later.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to distinguish between male long tail weasel and female mink, especially since the long tail also likes wetlands. Some people say that stride length of the long tail (in 2-2 bound) is extremely inconsistent, while mink (and short tail weasel) move in 2-2 with a more consistent stride length, much like the fisher does. I've been using that rule of thumb, but admittedly have never seen the actual animals make the tracks, so cannot be sure it is true.