What is this animal?

Erin Christou

9 years ago

This little guy has been spending a lot of time in my backyard but I am not certain what it is?

Thank You!

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

9 years ago

These sorts of animals are usually very shy about human contact and avoid us like the plague!! I wonder if it has been semi-domesticated? Otherwise I can't imagine why it would be hanging out so obviously unless ill.......and it looks pretty darn healthy and plump!

Photo and markings/color of fur look more like a mink or fisher than anything else.

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Comments (7)

User
9 years ago
Where do you live?

It's a member of the weasel family (mink, weasels, ferrets, fishers, etc.) but knowing where the picture was taken helps.
Erin Christou thanked User
Sammy
9 years ago
How CUTE is he (she?)
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Erin Christou
Original Author
9 years ago
I am in Burlington, Ontario. He is super cute and not shy at all! I was outside, he came right up to me and then tried to follow me into the house lol. I wouldnt think he is ill as you mentioned he looks very healthy and clean.
Kathy Yata
9 years ago
Ferrets are domesticated members of the weasel family and they come in a wide variety of markings even though they generally have a mask.

Check around, perhaps somebody has lost their pet ferret.
Erin Christou thanked Kathy Yata
User
9 years ago
I agree with gardengal48. I think if I had a wild mustelid (this is not a ferret) acting like that around my house, I might be inclined to call the state game agency to have them come investigate. It could be injured or sick. Is there rabies in Ontario?

Maybe the best people to contact would be the Royal Ontario Museum. They have very competent and expert mammalogists working there, including Dr. Mark Engstrom (http://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-staff/mark-engstrom). He might be able to explain the behavior and would certainly be able to confirm the ID 100%.
Erin Christou thanked User
Sharon McKenzie
9 years ago
This is NOT a ferret; it is indeed a mink, but not a wild mink. This is a ranched mink with a color mutation bred on fur farms, so this animal was either an escapee from a fur farm, or was intentionally released by Animal Rights activists. Ranched mink lack survival skills to exist in the wild, and have been dependent upon human care for their entire lives, so this mink is seeking out the only source of food it knows-humans. It will not survive on its own, and while misguided and ignorant activists believe that they are "helping" fur farm animals by "liberating" them(as they ultimately want to "liberate" ALL animals, your dogs and cats included), they are in fact condemning most of these animals to a slow, painful death by starvation. NOTE: just because this mink is the product of many, many generations of captive selective breeding, this does NOT mean it is docile and tame! Ranched mink are still very prone to biting viciously. They can and will inflict serious injuries to dogs or other pets that mess with them or anyone who tries to handle them. Check around and find any fur farms in your area and find out if any have experienced recent break-ins and vandalism, including releases of animals, and you will most likely find where this mink, which I believe is a "Pastel" variety, came from.