Fun Muskrat Hunting Story

[Minkenry 1,044]

I've got a fun hunting story to share with everyone from this morning. Since I didn't capture any of it on film, I thought I would share it in story form.....

I took my pointer lurcher Onsa and mink Fang out early this morning before light for a little muskrat hunt before work. I released the lurcher and told her to go find a muskrat, and we started walking around the lake. After walking for a little ways, Onsa stopped and started sniffing and scratching at the frozen ground near the lake shore. I walked over with Fang and took her off the leash so she could look for the Muskrat hole.There was a thin layer of ice on that portion of the lake, so Fang had to search for a hole in the ice so she could go down under the water to find the submerged entrance of the muskrat den.

Soon after entering the den, a couple muskrats swim out and Onsa dived in after one of them. The ice shattered as Onsa went head-first into the frozen water, but the breaking ice slowed and disoriented her enough that the muskrat escaped. I felt bad for her, as crashing into the thin ice like that looked quite uncomfortable, maybe even painful, but she shook it off and looked for more muskrats coming out of the hole. Once it was clear there were no more muskrats, Fang came out of the hole and ran out across the lake on top of the ice, naively looking for the muskrats on the frozen surface of the lake. I called her back and put a leash on her, then asked Onsa to find another muskrat.

As we were walking along the edge of the lake looking for another muskrat den, we got to an area where there was no ice, only open water. I noticed a muskrat swimming out in the lake following the shore line, but pretty far out in the water. I noticed that it was edging closer to the shore as it swim, and as it got closer I finally decided to alert Onsa of its presence, as she hadn't noticed it yet. "Ssc ssc ssc!" I said, as I pointed to the Muskrat out in the water. The Muskrat was far enough out I thought it was a long shot, but we might as well give it a try and see if Onsa would get lucky. Onsa leaped clear out into the water with an amazing jump, and landed just short of catching the muskrat. The Muskrat quickly dived under the water, surprised by the sudden presence of the dog falling out of the sky. I expected the muskrat to then escape, but to my surprise Onsa dived under the water after the muskrat, and surfaced with the muskrat in her mouth! I was very pleased that she was able to catch that muskrat, especially considering as far out in the water as it was! We then continued looking for more muskrats.

On the other side of the lake Onsa again stopped and indicated there was a muskrat nearby. I took the leash off of Fang and released her into the water. She swam around the edge of the lake, feeling around the edge of the shore, looking for an entrance to a muskrat hole. She disappeared up under the bank, but I wasn't sure if she was just under the lip of the bank, or if she actually found a muskrat hole. All I knew was I couldn't see her in the water anymore. I looked around to make sure there wasn't a muskrat sneaking out of a back entrance, and when I looked back to where I saw the mink last, I noticed ripples coming from under the bank. I walked over to look more closely at what was causing the ripples, and I noticed my mink's tail flipping out from under the bank, wildly flailing around. Then I saw her back feet kicking around, coming out from under the bank as well! I was concerned that maybe she was tangled in some fishing line and drowning, and I bent down to try and help her out, when I noticed a flash of muskrat fur, and then a muskrat tail coming out from under the bank as well! I quickly reached down and grabbed the muskrat tail, pulling it out of the water with Fang coming out of the water with it, hanging from its nose like a bulldog!

I'm not sure what happened under the bank, but my best guess is the Muskrat was in a extremely short, submerged, dead end hole, up under the bank, and Fang grab the cornered muskrat by the nose, then proceeded to pull it out of the hole into the water! I am incredibly happy with both my animals after that hunt! Onsa leaped out into the water and captured a muskrat I thought for sure would escape, and Fang fearlessly grabbed a cornered muskrat by the nose! I honestly couldn't be happier with my little hunting team! :-)

Edited December 22, 2016 by Minkenry

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Good write up there mate! You sure do have some exciting adventures with your two hunters. So good to hear Onsa is starting to do the business! Merry xmas to you and your family. ATB

[bobza 910]

thanks for sharing ,I do enjoy your topics so much top bloke ,have you ever heard of a ferrit x mink ,just I heard 30 years ago that there was a old man crossed them and not sure if its true ,my dad told me he took him to show him one night after they had been talking in the pub ,there was only 1 ,he picked it up to show my dad and with being drunk dropped it and broke its legs and it had to be pts ,I'm trapping on the old mink farm moles and the stories I hear off men that worked there and the son that used to own it told me how they would wear metal gloves ,very nasty things from what ive heard ,could you tell us how you train yous so well ,you must of put a lot of time into that mink ,please keep up with all your days out because we all love them thanks atb bobza

[Minkenry 1,044]

thanks for sharing ,I do enjoy your topics so much top bloke ,have you ever heard of a ferrit x mink ,just I heard 30 years ago that there was a old man crossed them and not sure if its true ,my dad told me he took him to show him one night after they had been talking in the pub ,there was only 1 ,he picked it up to show my dad and with being drunk dropped it and broke its legs and it had to be pts ,I'm trapping on the old mink farm moles and the stories I hear off men that worked there and the son that used to own it told me how they would wear metal gloves ,very nasty things from what ive heard ,could you tell us how you train yous so well ,you must of put a lot of time into that mink ,please keep up with all your days out because we all love them thanks atb bobza

 

American mink cannot cross with ferrets, or any other Mustelid that I am aware of. Ferrets and polecats can however hybridize with the European mink, which despite the name is not very closely related to the American mink.

 

Yes, it takes a lot of time and effort to tame and train mink. They really aren't comparable to working with domestic animals like ferrets and dogs. It's much more like working with high strung short-winged hawks (accipiters) than it is like hunting with ferrets.

Edited December 22, 2016 by Minkenry

[Dinosaurs 2,147]

Excellent write up would've been an excellent vid .. maybe nxt time? ? As said before thanks for sharing ?? Happy xmas to you & your family. Atb

[bobza 910]

I want to know more about mink ,why is the European mink different to the American mink ? they shut the mink farm down here were I am in the uk I think the government paid the man that owned the mink farm big money to close up,im going to ask him more about the mink .ive a few close friends that worked there ,the ones ive spoke to says they had a real bad temper ,your mink looks a real good hunter ,would be nice to see that mink hunting the brown rats here in the uk ,at bobza

[Minkenry 1,044]

I want to know more about mink ,why is the European mink different to the American mink ? they shut the mink farm down here were I am in the uk I think the government paid the man that owned the mink farm big money to close up,im going to ask him more about the mink .

 

European mink actually are more like semi aquatic polecats than they are like american mink. Genetically they are quite closely related to polecats, and that's why they can breed with ferrets and polecats. They are much weaker and less aggressive than american mink, and are no where near as adaptable as the american mink. The American mink not only thrives across its native North America, it also can easily adapt to many non native countries. Thanks to fur farming it has spread across parts of South America, Europe, and Asia. On the other hand, the European mink can barely even manage to survive in the countries it is native to. The European mink is actually critically endangered, and has an extremely high risk of becoming extinct in the wild in the near future. All the while, the american mink is expanding its rang into countries it has been introduced into.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Minkenry

[Minkenry 1,044]

.ive a few close friends that worked there ,the ones ive spoke to says they had a real bad temper ,your mink looks a real good hunter ,would be nice to see that mink hunting the brown rats here in the uk ,at bobza

 

 

Yeah, generally speaking mink do have bad tempers, and getting them angry is something you want to avoid. The smaller mink make great brown rat hunters, as they can not only enter their burrows, but unlike ferrets mink can also follow a rat up a tree, or even capture them under water....

 

https://youtu.be/pzdK8v-UHd4

 

Here's a rather crazy rat hunt we did for my birthday party a few years back (yes VERY crazy and VERY unorganized! LOL).....

 

https://youtu.be/90L474ao3KE

 

And here's another hunt we did in the same in a chicken coop.....

 

https://youtu.be/ifwnnjWWtCs

[roybo 2,873]

Pretty sure most mink in the UK are American mink ,escapees of the fur trade

[Minkenry 1,044]

I'd have thought most mink here wouldn't get into brown rat burrows? We tend to use Jill ferrets and I've bolted plenty of squirrels from trees with ferrets, I'm sure a mink would be better at the job and water is a no go for ferrets, hunting at least. Atb Joe

 

 

Doe ranch mink can fit down most brown rat burrows, but the smaller wild doe mink can fit even better because wild mink are considerably smaller. Smaller sized wild buck mink can also fit down most brown rat burrows, but ranch bucks are typically FAR TOO big to fit down their holes.