I saw the smallest mink today. At first I thought it was a rat running atop the receding ice sheets covering the creek. But the critter was too skinny and long, and besides, its tail was furry. This mink was deep chocolate brown like the one I saw early this winter at the waterfront, but much smaller. This one was cavorting, slipping in and out of the water quickly. It was running atop the snow and then without a pause would dive like a fish into the ice cold rushing waters, get swept along with the churning current, then hop out quick as a lick back onto the ice. The little mink looked like it was playing, enjoying its early morning swim in these freezing waters that are not only fast-moving but dangerous--but not, I guess, if you are a new-to-the-world mink. At times I lost sight of it as it swam under the ice ridges, only to see it surface down river. It was making a big loop, down the creek, then back up.
5 comments:
Sounds delightful and a nice diversion from the troubles in the world, isn't it? My, you've still got a lot of snow.
Lovely this story about the mink! I miss the squirrels of Canada... It was so much fun to see them cavorting up and down the pines and eating their chestnuts (or whatever they ate...). Hugs, M.
yes, there is a lot of melting yet to be done; hopefully, the sun this weekend will make more disappear, although tonight it will go down to -10.
The squirrels along the creek are both gray squirrels and black squirrels. They seem to have pushed out the much smaller red squirrels. However, at the waterfront, I have seen small red squirrels setting up home underneath the lookout platforms.
Reminds me of the night when I fell through a beaver dam during a Night Tracks walk in Banff.
And how lovely to see a wild creature playing so naturally!
Mouse, I hope you did not injure yourself falling through the beaver dam on the Night Tracks outing. It must've been a very enjoyable excursion, minus the unexpected beaver dam incident!
This little mink was very cute and very quick and very playful, and I wondered if it was brand new to the spring this year. But along with their cuteness factor, mink are also quite vicious, as they are known to bite other creatures' heads off!
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