Mink control project

The American mink

The American mink (Mustela vison) spread across the country following escapes, and deliberate releases, from fur farms in the latter half of the 20th century. It is an opportunistic predator, often killing more than required for food, and can have a devastating effect on native wildlife. Ground nesting birds and water vole populations are particularly vulnerable to mink predation.

The mink is a semi-aquatic mammal with rich, usually dark brown fur, and a white chin patch. It is part of the “Mustelid” family and occupies both freshwater and saltwater habitats often following and moving along waterways, lake edges and coasts.

Seen a mink? Please report it to us!

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Our mink control project

Working with volunteers and partners, we use mink monitoring rafts, to establish if mink are present in an area, and then, once detected, set traps to capture and allow the humane dispatch of the animal.

Mink rafts and traps

The mink monitoring raft floats on the edge of river or burn. The mink, inquisitive creatures, will investigate the structure and go through the wooden tunnel. Inside the tunnel is a clay pad, on which the mink (or any other creature) will leave its paw prints to allow identification.

When the tell-tale prints of a mink are found we know they are present in that area. At this stage a live capture trap is installed in the tunnel to try to catch the mink and allow humane dispatch.

Download further information about mink rafts and how to build one.

Our mink monitoring network extends from the Firth of Tay (near Perth) in the south to Durness (in Sutherland) in the north, covering 43 river catchments.

Catching mink

If mink are found in an area, the clay pad on the raft is changed for a live capture trap. These traps must be checked daily at this stage to see if anything has been caught – volunteers or project staff can do this. Anyone monitoring a mink trap is paired with a local dispatcher who has been trained to humanely dispatch any mink caught.

We only use live capture traps so any non-target species, like pine marten or young otters, are released safely and unharmed. Putting the traps onto rafts also reduces the likelihood of catching non-target species as not all animals fancy a swim to investigate.

Struggling to catch that evasive wily mink? Read our blog post of trapping tricks: Stopping mink in their tracks – tips and tricks of the trade

In recent years we have adopted the use of remote animal trap monitoring (remoti units) to enhance our trapping effort. This technology notifies operators by text message when a trap has been triggered and so needs to be checked. Crucially these units allow us to trap constantly and not rely on the earlier monitoring phase of work to confirm local mink presence. In this way trapping effort can be increased and each trap site need only have a single contact with the animal to remove it from the wild. It reports captures in real time, removes the need for daily trap checks by volunteers and provides enhanced levels of animal welfare protection.

Could you monitor a raft or trap?

Our project relies on the support of volunteers to adopt mink rafts and traps and help us monitor for, and catch, American mink across a wide area.

No experience is necessary, you just need to visit the raft every 1-2 weeks and check for the tell-tale sign of mink footprints in the clay. Traps need to be visited daily to see if anything has been caught and if it has you just need to call us. The raft/trap is provided by us, and one of our project staff will help you install it and answer all your questions.

Watch a video of Elise, one of our volunteers showing you her mink raft and explaining what’s involved in checking it.

Over 350 volunteers already help us monitor for and catch mink. Together they look after around 650 rafts and traps – we could not undertake mink control on this scale without this volunteer support.