The mink is a semi-aquatic furbearer common throughout Wisconsin. These carnivores have short, dense, chocolate-colored fur and may have white patches on their chest and belly. Mink generally weigh 1.5-2 pounds with males being larger than females. They eat muskrats, fish, reptiles, amphibians, waterfowl, eggs and small mammals like mice. While they prefer to hunt around water bodies, they will travel and forage for food in upland habitats as well. Like all members of the weasel family, mink have delayed implantation, meaning the fertilized egg doesn’t implant to the uterine wall immediately. Mink give birth in late spring to 5-6 young. Mink may be harvested during a limited, regulated season with the appropriate license.
