But then we've had this really playful guy swimming up and down and around more like an otter. At first I thought it was the weasel, but it seems to be much darker all over...it could be larger too, but it's at such a distance, it's hard to tell. These are screen shots from a video I took.

His back...

And the tail which is quite long...but that's true for both weasels and minks.

When I've seen the weasel, he's mostly running around the edge of the pond and occasionally in it, but this guy is playing in the water for quite some time and acrobatic the whole time. So by behavior, I'm now leaning toward mink.

Looks more like an otter. Are weasels commonly active in the water? How fun to have an otter near you!!!

They're all in the weasel family but all white is usually an Ermine during the winter season. The rest of your photos aren't clear enough to my eyes to ID but...what fun!...to be able to enjoy these guys. Just hope you don't have a beaver family moving in. Try to get a clearer view of the tail. And...if you suspect they may be locating to your pond...call the local wild life agency in your area. Report them. They're cute...but can be very destructive to a small pond eco system and they should be relocated to a more rural area.

Could you have both? Your first picture does look mink like but the other looks otter.

Last photos sure look like an otter. They are water lovers and very playful!! River otters are very common here and trek regularly from the wooded area streams and ponds where they live down to the beach to scrounge whatever seafood they can find. They are cute but incredibly destructive. They often take up residence in moored boats and can completely trash them.

I probably would just have assumed it was an otter.

Mink is bigger than weasel, and its fur is shiny, silky and darker in color. I'm guessing that's a mink since you mentioned the color is darker brown.

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Mink is smaller than a cat, otter is much bigger, like a mid size dog.

Looks more like a beaver to me.

I would say the lower pics are a beaver also.

It's definitely not a beaver as it's a lot smaller and the tail is not flat and hairless but fat and furry. On one of my walks, I go by a pond with a beaver which I've seen and they are *large* like a log. It's not an otter as they are significantly larger. I'm leaning toward mink and will keep an eye out to see if I can catch him at rest to get a better look.

Beaver is about 2.5'-3.5' in size, and it's fat. :-)

Hmmm. Based on your suggestions, I went looking at otters and I dunno now...but I think it's too small, but as I said, size is hard to judge from a distance. And the tail sure looks right. But they say otters tend to hang together and this guy is buy himself...

Baby beavers...aka kits...are born in the Spring. Usually 4 to a litter and they are frisky. The flat tail of a beaver doesn't appear until they're full grown so if these guys are kits...they won't have the flat tail. Their facial features are much like the young kits. My money is still on them. 😊

I wish I could post a video of it. The beaver I've seen are never so acrobatic and busy as this guy is, so I suspect not. And he's by himself, no parents, no siblings.

Hmmmm! Well...he still could be a youngin'...out shopping for a mate. Or...we may have the gender all wrong. Maybe it's a female...and she's flirting. Otters are playful but it would be rather odd to have just one playing by itself.

I'm having difficulty posting so this may or may not show up.

There is another possibility. It could be a Fisher Cat. They've become much more prevalent in CT in the last several years. The young are very playful. The adults have nasty personalities if you threaten their territory so keep an eye on your kitties if you let them out during the day time. The head shape, ears and tail of the one you've posted is very like a Fisher, as well.

I know fishers and I've seen one...but they are really big with long legs. I'm sure this isn't one of them.

I'm very fortunate that my girls hang right around the house when they're out. They're only out when we're around and only during daylight hours. The only time they wander away from the house, even down to the pond, is with me...Misty follows me around like a puppy dog.

That second one looks like a beaver, at least the teeth do!

My dearly departed kittie was just like your Misty. And boy! do I miss her.

You're right about the size of an adult Fisher but the ones playing in your pond might be very young. They'd be much smaller in size. If you've seen an adult in your vicinity...don't discount those in your pond as being young-ins. Otherwise...I return to my offering of a beaver.

I hope...when you finally ID the little playmates that you'll come back and tell us all.

It's only one animal...no playmates, no siblings...just a solo act.

The picture of the head looks like a beaver or capybara except capybara's do not have long tails. Otters tend to keep ears close to head.

However the first photo to me looks like a different animal than the rest.

Only one, eh! Well then I return to it being a Fisher. Beavers rarely, if ever, play alone unless it's a 3 year old male looking for a mate. It's Spring time! And the rest of the weasel family members we've all been discussing are more likely to play in numbers. Not solo. Fisher's...by nature...are loners.

It's not big enough or legs long enough to be a fisher...they get big.

Mink. Weasels do not swim or even have webbed feet.

Yup! I've seen a Fisher or two myself. One monopolized a good local trout stream for far too
long. Nasty fella, too. Growled every time I tried to enjoy the area. The adults do get large but the young...up to several months in age...are about the size of your pond visitor. Do you have fish in your pond?

Edited to add: He scared my poor deceased husband to the point that he finally gave up trying to fish the stream. It was about the only pleasure he had left during his last months of pancreatic cancer. I was furious that he lost it and looked high and low for a remedy but even the local wild life guy didn't want to handle him.

Fisher were planted here in Michigan by the DNR who decided we had too many porcupine. They thought it would balance the populations. Turns out fisher prefer ducks to porcupines. We have a huge fisher population now.

Fisher is a tree climber, lives in the forest. it’s pretty big, 3’+long.

First picture looks like one of the marten species (pine? native to Scotland, so maybe American); second picture looks like a beaver.

Florida here. We have a lake otter, he shows up all by himself in late winter. We saw him in February. He’ll be back next year, we hope.

Fisher and marten are all forest creatures.......we need a hunter here to identify. :-)

That first picture of the face in your second post looks like a nutria, but they have a tail more like a rat and I don't know how playful they are in the water.

eta: you can upload your video to youtube then post it here.

Nutria is fat. Check out this nutria youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPH0cT9Di2U

How do you tell the difference between a weasel and a stoat?

A weasel is weaselly recognised but a stoat is stoatally different :-D

No, no nutria's in my area that I know of....

Maybe a muskrat??

No, definitely not muskrat...we have those too and are easily identified by their rat tail and their chubby bodies. Also they swim across the pond, but are never so animated like this guy.

Here is a link on how to identify mink, ermine & weasel:

http://dickinsoncountyconservationboard.com/2019/03/04/mink-ermine-or-weasel-we-can-help-you-tell-the-difference/

Here's one of our muskrats...rat tail and chubby cheeks apparent.

I just don't know why the critters don't just tell us what they are!

😊

Summersrhythm, that's helpful. The animal was definitely very dark, so probably not a weasel then.

I don't know what they are, but they are adorable. Lucky you to have a pond to attract them.