Think MINK... again!

Camera Trap set
(Seneca Falls, NY 9/12)

The mink bonanza continues. I first wrote about my recent luck with mink here. Today I checked the set and swapped cameras. I put out a Cuddeback Capture and moved the Attack. I would like a few crisp color photos. I also repositioned the camera so it was pointing at a small opening that had lots of mink tracks and scat....

 I got some more mink pics but there were other visitors including:

Raccoon
(Seneca Falls, NY 9/12)

and

Greater Yellowlegs
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

But we really want to talk about mink. Let's look at a few (or the same one twice?):

Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 9/12)

And a short video. This guy looks like he is burning calories and not gonna let anything go unnoticed.

Mink track
(Seneca Falls, NY 9/12)

With all this mink activity, there was bound to be some mink sign as well. There was some nice mud for tracks. Mink have five toes on the front and hind feet, however toe number one is "weak" and is not always obvious. Look carefully at both the tracks to see all five toes in each.









Mink scat and trail
(Seneca Falls, NY 9/12)

Here is a mink scat. What is particularly nice about this was the mink trail that was visible due to the mud transfer from the mink to the vegetation. Here is a wide angle shot. Use the boots as scale. Notice the mud all around the scat, as well as a trail of it going down and to the left. There is also a substantial trail heading toward the top of the photo.

Finally, a nice close up of the same scat. I did not collect this one to tease apart. Most members of the weasel family have this kind of ropy tapered-at-both-ends look. Oh, and if you missed the mud in the last photo you should be able to see it here with no problem.

Think MINK

Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

With the drier weather we had this summer, I watched my ponds get smaller and smaller. Mink tracks started popping up on the muddy shoreline and I thought I would try to specifically target them with the camera traps. I placed a Cuddeback Capture at the pond in our backyard, facing the eastern edge of the pond. It only took two nights to produce this photo! This is one of my best mink photos ever (see this for my other favorite...). The composition is nice and the exposure is near perfect. I love those "white flash" cameras.

The other camera set I made for mink was with a Cuddeback Attack IR. The advantage was to be the video this camera takes. The disadvantage was the infrared flash. Don't get me wrong, I understand the value of the IR, I just prefer the color images. None of the video is worth sharing (animal moves out of frame almost instantly) but two of the still photos are nice. This set was on the edge of our reconstructed wetland about 1/4 mile from the first photo.

This was the first photo taken on the new set:

Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

Same mink? I am not sure, but I do not think so. Look back at the first photo an note the small white patch of fur on the chin. Mink often have some white or light coloration on the underside and if this mink had a white chinny-chin-chin, I would think it would show in this photo. However, his head is cocked just enough to make me think it is possible that white could be hidden. Perhaps I am being over cautious.



Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

Speaking of over cautious, I spent a long time looking at this photo in order to confirm my initial identification of mink. Let's look -->
First, note that this animal is wet. There is water to the right so it probably just emerged from there. The head is mostly hidden but the tail is visible. That fully furred tail rules out reasonable suspects like beaver and muskrats (we don't have nutria here) and leaves mink and river otter as the two most likely candidates given the habitat. But before we go there, I should also rule out less likely animals as well. It is not a woodchuck. Woodchucks can and do swim, but this is not a chuck. The fur is just too plush and chucks show a color difference from the body to tail usually. It is not a cat. There are no other rodents to eliminate. We have a few very dark skunks around, but a wet skunk looks different than this. No, I am comfortable with our short list of mink or otter. For me, there are two clues that make this a mink. First is size. An otter would be much bigger compared to the cattails. This animal DOES look large, especially in the rear half, but I think that is just the normal hunching of the back as it moves. And I have the added benefit from actually seeing the site in person. Second, the tail hair is too long for an otter. Otters are more sleek, especially in the tail. As unsatisfying as this photo may be, this is a mink.

My last mink photo is a a touch out of focus as it is so close to the lens. What a great look at a species that keeps to itself and goes largely unnoticed...

Mink
(Seneca Falls, NY 8/12)

Mink Den?

Mink nest
(Muller Field Station, Richmond, NY 09/2011)

Last weekend was the first session of my Wetland Mammals class. We stayed at the college's Muller Field Station. A few students were exploring and lifted a board only to have a mink dart out from under it and into the water. I took this photo and assume that the nest-like structure was made by the mink. I have read that mink are somewhat nomadic except during the breeding season and may move from one spot to the next each day. I am in the habit of only using the term den to refer to the place where young are raised, not simply the place you spend the night (or day). Perhaps I am being too fussy....

Mink scat
(Muller Field Station, Richmond, NY 09/2011)

In addition to the dried grass nest, there were several scats under the board as well. Now, I know I just wrote that mink MAY NOT use the same resting place for more than one night, but by default, that means that they MAY as well. This looked like a particularly good spot! It was within 5 feet of the channel, it had that nice drain pipe access and with the fields to the upland, it seemed to have it all. One of the scats was very runny. It was hard to photograph, but you can see it if you look closely tot he right of the obvious scat in the photo.



The students set eight camera traps and I set two of my own. We are due to check them in another week and I will post the results.

Camera trap workshop at Muller Field Station (FLCC)

Raccoon in swamp
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

Four participants attended a one day workshop on the use of camera traps and track boards on June 20th at the Muller Field Station (owned by Finger Lakes Community College). Through a grant, we have been able to create five "wildlife kits" for teachers to sign out. Each kit contains two camera traps, one digital camera, 12 Track Finder books and a set of common mammal track replicas.

Six days earlier, Sasha Mackenzie and I set out eight Cuddeback Capture cameras (four infrared and four white light flash). We set them in various locations. For example, we attached one to the leg of a bench in the lawn near the channel, baited with a tin of sardines. Another we placed in some ash trees, baited with Squirrel Paste (Havahart product). We even got in the canoes and set five cameras along the channel, hoping for some semi-aquatic mammals. I concocted a bait from the sardine oil and Vaseline. The petroleum jelly acts to hold the oil in place longer than the oil alone. From past experience, we knew we would get many coon photos and I sprayed raccoon urine at several of the sets just to make sure of attracting some of the bandits.

Red squirrel in mid air!
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

The morning of the workshop, we all gathered in the great room and I began with an overview of the day's events and goals. I had prepared a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation that went over the basics of camera trapping and how I use them in my classes. We passed around one of the cameras so everyone could see how it works. I brought everyone outside to the camera trap baited with Squirrel Paste. Everyone could crowd around the camera so we could all see it in operation. We had 26 photos on that camera and not only was the Squirrel Paste all gone, but the bark was gnawed off so the rodents could get every last bit. At left is the best photo of that lot. At first, I thought we had captured a flying squirrel, but closer examination reveals this is a red squirrel in mid air. Regardless, it is a stunning photo and an instant favorite among the group.

Retrieving camera traps
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

From there, we paired up and headed into the canoes. Sasha and I had 4 different sets out (one with two cameras) and were really hoping for some semi-aquatic mammals. As we retrieved the cameras, we were excited to find that we had numerous photos on each. We rounded a bend to find an immature bald eagle watching our progress at close range. When the last camera was gathered, there was excitement in each boat as we paddled back to the field station to check our SD cards.

Infrared photo of raccoon
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

As stated earlier, I expected lots of raccoon photos. And we were not disappointed. Here are a few of the better ones. I am not a fan of the IR cameras. I would rather have the crisp photos from the flash cameras. However, we have some of each as the IRs do have their advantages. I created this set along a log hoping for a mink, but got coons and red squirrels instead. Still, an interesting photo and we found that my sardine oil and Vaseline concoction held up well for the week.

Raccoon
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

Beaver
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

We totaled 16 species (well, 17 if you count the bullfrog that was on a log when a bird triggered the camera) in all with half of them birds.  I could not find my castor scent, so we only ended up with one beaver photo. But beaver pics are always nice. They are such a surprising looking animal that they look good at almost any angle. Look at the way the wet fur ripples on the right side of the animal.... just a cool photo!

Mink
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

We managed to document one other semi-aquatic mammal and like the beaver, only captured it in a single image. This is perhaps my favorite camera trapped mink. The pose is interesting and the face is fully visible. We didn't do a good enough job of keeping track of which SD card came from which set, so I am unsure what this set was baited with. Interestingly, when we ran the Wetlands Mammal class last fall we did not get a single photo of a mink but did get a photo of river otter. There have to be far more mink than otters so we were not expecting that result. It gave me a chance to talk to the students about the danger of relying on only one trial for your data (or your assumptions). 

Identifying tracks
(6/11, Muller Field Station)

When the camera trapping was done, Sasha took over and presented some basics on tracks, trails and animal feet. She started with a PowerPoint and then a description of how to use the Track Finder book. Once that was over, we went out to the picnic tables and practiced identifying tracks and trails in containers of sand. Sasha used the rubber track replicas from Acorn Nauralists to make the imprints. Everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge!