White Mink Sighting
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:54 pm
A friend and I spotted a small white mink while bushwhacking on January 10th, 2012. It was at ~3400' amsl in the transition zone between yellow birch and beech dominated overstory and red spruce/ balsam fir dominated overstory, particularly in a thicket of balsam fir saplings. The mink is living (well, hiding at the time) in tiny caves formed by glacier erratics. We were taking a break in the ledges in this area, when I turned around to see this curious critter checking me out. When I first turned around, it scurried away too quickly for a picture. I kept the camera out waiting for a few more moments and it slowly and cautiously emerged for another look at me before hiding again. I'm probably the first human it has seen, as this area is very remote and out of the way from normal bushwhacking routes. There were also black bear tracks frozen in the snow, leading to the summit of the mountain. I did not know black bears wandered up this high to the spruce/fir summits. One very exploratory and navigation oriented bear. Mink is first photo, bear track is second.
Download and zoom into the mink picture to see its full glory. I think this is a rare sighting.
Black bear tracks:
While I have you here, I really like this picture:
This is the kind of terrain the mink lives in- the mink was actually located in the area in the upper right of the shot where there are conifers
Download and zoom into the mink picture to see its full glory. I think this is a rare sighting.
Black bear tracks:
While I have you here, I really like this picture:
This is the kind of terrain the mink lives in- the mink was actually located in the area in the upper right of the shot where there are conifers