great horned owl with a mink (1 Viewer)

hey i saw a great horned owl kill a large mink at a conservation area here

i noticed the struggle but by the time i got my iphone out the owl flue away with it by its head it still seemed alive!!


We have abnormal amount of mink now here what is with the population enxplosion? Don't coyotes keep them in check? Same with skunks and coons. I thought coywolves kept them in check?

the mink always play and run in pairs they act like otters

I believe their # 1 predator is the owl, followed by fox, coyotes, bobcats and such. Can't really speak to your over population but it makes me wonder about your density of their predators.

I've only seen mink twice. While driving, I saw one crossing a road at twilight between two forest preserves south of Chicago. I was driving slow, scanning the trees when the mink meander out at some what of a trot.

The other time I was hiking in the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin. I was about 5 miles in on a trail, it was early morning, overcast with a light drizzle. I was standing still, scanning a slough with my binos. I lowered the glass and my eye caught movement on the trail, a critter walking in my direction. As it got closer I could tell it was a mink. It got within 3 feet before he noticed me, scampering away into the slough. What's up with that; hearing, sense of smell or vision?

Seeing that owl with the mink would have been exciting for me too. Nice catch, to bad about the loss photo op..!!

SanAngelo said:

What's up with that; hearing, sense of smell or vision?

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Vison.

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we get fishers here as well i dont know how other smaller minks survive. I have not seen a fox in years they vanished it looks like. I dont think an owl would dare take a fisher. Maybe a eagle owl. lol

any way we can read up on great horned owl predation on mink? i did not know they were the number one predator. I KNEW that they killed skunks. But was not sure on the mink thing? I know they they did eat mink but did not know they were the number one predator?

i read even ural owls kill them and even once great grey owl from a book I read. But it is shocking the minks must be pups?

i had to check images to remember the minks. he looks like ricky ticky tavy LOL

these guys say wolves, foxes and great horned owls in that order: http://www.animalspot.net/american-mink.html

I'd add coyotes just due to their numbers before wolves and foxes

Here's what BNA-online has to say about Great Horned Owl "diet". Interesting enough mink doesn't appear on the list (for what that's worth, given the fact that BNA relies almost exclusively on formal studies for its data, and no such studies may exist for Great Horned Owls in mink country ).

"Depending on abundance, takes a variety of large rodents — e.g., ground squirrels (Spermophilus spp.), Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), wood rats (Neotoma spp.), and muskrats (Ondatra zibethica). May occasionally take squirrels (Sciurus and Tamiasciurus spp.; Packard 1954 ) and woodchucks (Marmota monax; Wink et al. 1987 ), yellow-bellied marmots (M. flaviventris) and black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus; Marti 1974 ), raccoons (Procyon lotor; Bosakowski et al. 1989d ), skunks (Mephitis and Spilogale spp.), house cats (Felis sylvestris), and even porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum; Powell 1984a ).

Small mammals often taken as prey include deer mice (Peromyscus spp.), voles (Microtus spp.), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.), pocket gophers (Geomys and Thomomys spp.), and moles (Parascalops and Scalopus spp.). In Jackson Co., OK, cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), a key winter food, constituted up to 66% of total diet biomass ( Tyler and Jensen 1981 ). In Pennsylvania, opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) contributed most (33%) to biomass ( Wink et al. 1987 ). Species taken infrequently to commonly depending on abundance include chipmunks (Tamias and Eutamias spp.), shrews (Blarina, Sorex, Cryptotus spp.), pocket mice (Perognathus spp.), house mice (Mus musculus), rice rats (Oryzomys spp.), and occasionally bats (e.g., Tadarida spp.; Tyler and Jensen 1981 Tyler and Jensen 1981 ). Known to feed on carrion (roadkill) in winter (Smith 1974a ) during prolonged period of heavy snow cover."

I'm a great fan of minks which I encounter regularly in Reno at various of the local wetlands. Elegant little creatures and always a pleasure to,see.

SanAngelo said:

I believe their # 1 predator is the owl, followed by fox, coyotes, bobcats and such.

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I got that information from either a trapper site or tracker site, I don't remember which one. It's not bookmarked on this computer, maybe it's on one of my other computers.

I take photos of tracks and research the ones that really peak my interest however, locally I'm on the look out for a Ringtail Cat and a Badger.

Anyway, whatever site it was had the owl at the top of the minks predator's list. Maybe the order of the list meant nothing, I took it verbatim and wrote it as such.