An initiative to remove the American mink from Perthshire’s waterways is having success in cutting numbers.
American mink got into the wild when they escaped, or were deliberately released, from fur farms in the 1950s.
There’s nothing cute and cuddly about them – the sharp-toothed hunters wreak havoc on populations of water voles, ground-nesting birds and fish as well as game birds and farm poultry.
Since 20011 the Scottish Mink Initiative (SMI) has been creating a network of volunteers to try to combat the harm being done to native wildlife.
In the north Tay catchment area, running through Perthshire, there are around 60 volunteers and 100 mink monitoring rafts.
As a result of efforts involving nearly 500 SMI volunteers across north Scotland, some species are making a recovery. One of those most severely affected, the water vole, has started reclaiming some of its former range near the rivers Don and Dee.
SMI co-ordinator Ann-Marie MacMaster explained that the aim of the SMI is to remove breeding mink from northern Scotland in order to protect native wildlife.
“Removing every single mink will not be possible, however if we can considerably reduce their numbers this will have a knock on positive effect,” she said.
“Since April 2011, 67 American mink have been removed from the Ericht, Isla, Garry, Tummel and Tay catchments in Perthshire.
“As part of the north Tay catchment area, Perthshire is on the outer edge of the initiative area, so it is unrealistic to expect to achieve breeding mink-free status in this area since mink will continue to move into the area from the south, where there is no co-ordinated population control.”
Volunteers monitor mink rafts which float on the water and have a wet clay tracking pad beneath a tunnel. Mink, being highly inquisitive, climb on to investigate and leave their footprints behind.
Volunteers check for prints regularly and once they are detected, live capture cage traps are put out to catch the mink. The captured mink are humanely dispatched and carcasses sent to Aberdeen University for research purposes.
“You’d be amazed at the variety of people who want to help,” declared Ms MacMaster. “We get gamekeepers of course, but also people who perhaps have a burn running through the bottom of their garden and want to do their bit to protect their local native wildlife.
“Then there are others who might not live in the countryside but have read about the damage the American mink does and just want to help.”
Further north vast swathes of the initiative area have been untroubled by mink for months, or years in some places.
For further information see www.scottishmink.org.uk