>From:    Edward Lipinski <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: THE MINK, Mustela vison
 
Ed:
>FNW in desperate need of rearing/care information about mink, possibly to
>be kept as a pet?  Oh sure.
 
Actually, no.  Minks are monogamous animals, very solitary, and even if
raised as kits, will bond to their keeper and no one else.  Any ranch mink
caught feral (this is a ranch mink - wild mink are dark mahogony only and
all mink have a white patch on their chins) should be returned to a mink
farm or put down.  It is like catching an adult squirrel and trying to make
it a pet.  They can become somewhat tame, but never a pet.
 
I have had 5 ranch mink as boarders at my shelter at one time or another.
Three were "abandoned" by their owner, and I had to keep them outside
because they would try and eat the paws of the ferrets and cats.  The tamest
one I gave to a vet student, where the mink died of a heart attach in
transit back to her place.  No heat stress, nothing but the nature of these
fragile animals to pop.  Of the other two, one died of rabies when an
infected raccoon tried to steal food from their cage.  I had the other mink
tested for rabies, just in case - it was negative.
 
The other pair I had were raised by my soon-to-be-ex-husband from 4 weeks of
age.  They liked both of us in the beginning, but then bonded to him and
tolerated me (they were males, neutered at 4 months to avoid hormones).
They caught ECE, then later one developed a bacterial infection that we
could not get cured, and the other brother went insane when his sibling
died.  He had to be put down.
 
>Need to know procedure for cross breeding mink and ferret, when mink goes
>estral.  Has such been done before successfully?   If successful, what is
>taxonomic identity given to crossbreed . . . Mustela putorius vison?  Common
>name. . . .Ferrink. . .Minerret?  Fink is unacceptable!
 
Mink cycle in and out of heat, so they do not have to be bred.  They can not
be mated with ferrets, they are different species and not compatible.  Sure,
a male mink might bring a female ferret out of season because all that is
needed is the act of penetration, but if he does not kill her, they will not
produce offspring.  No naming convention is needed - it will not happen.
 
>Any advice greatly appreciated, and the sooner the better.
 
Sorry I'm a week behind on the FML.
 
Pamela Troutman Grant / STAR* Ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1877]