Kat 1989 asked:
My Nan’s garden backs on to a river, her garden is all fenced in with normal 6ft panels. She has a pond that was full of Koi Carp. Mink keep getting into the garden and eating all her fish. In the last year she has lost well over £500 worth. We have put nylon netting over the pond but the mink chew through it and carry on eating the fish! The environment agency say there’s nothing they can do but have advised us to trap them then shoot them, my Nan’s 80 I don’t have the heart to shoot them. I know it’s illegal to poison them, so what can we do? Please can some one help?
Sorry I should have said, we mentioned putting a wire net over the pond but she complained she wouldn’t be able to see the pond (fair enough I suppose!)
My Nan’s garden backs on to a river, her garden is all fenced in with normal 6ft panels. She has a pond that was full of Koi Carp. Mink keep getting into the garden and eating all her fish. In the last year she has lost well over £500 worth. We have put nylon netting over the pond but the mink chew through it and carry on eating the fish! The environment agency say there’s nothing they can do but have advised us to trap them then shoot them, my Nan’s 80 I don’t have the heart to shoot them. I know it’s illegal to poison them, so what can we do? Please can some one help?
Sorry I should have said, we mentioned putting a wire net over the pond but she complained she wouldn’t be able to see the pond (fair enough I suppose!)
FIND A TRAPPER ..THEIR ALWAY`S LOOKING FOR FUR OR A PLACE TO TRAP
You could try putting a metal wire netting, wire mesh over the pond. I don’t think they would be able to chew through that. You could trap them and then drive them out some where far away and release them.
make a coat out of them
Research what the natural predators of a mink could be then see if you can get some urine or some kind of smell from this predator to surround the pond.
The mink will be fooled into believing that it is a dangerous area for them and will avoid it, no matter how tasty the fish.
Off the top of my head I know foxes and owls are predators. Otters won’t allow minks in their territory as well.
You may want to try a garden centre nearby. If you’re having these problems then there is a very real possibility that others would know what to do who live in the area.
Good luck and I understand why you don’t want to kill them. It isn’t their fault they eat fish, is it?
You could get them humanely trapped and have them moved somewhere away from your Nan’s property. There are humane exterminators who will do this in U.S. I’ll bet you could find one where your Nan is.
Use chicken wire or wire netting with small gaps and set it into the ground.
try getting a couple large cans of cheap tuna fish and mix in several large hand fuls of cayenne pepper then leave it where the mink are coming in thru the fence, if you ALTER THEIR SENSE OF TASTE, THEY WILL GO AND PICK ON SOME ONE ELSES PETS, no poisons or out side help required, no one else need know what you are doing either.. good luck
Buy or rent humane traps then take them to your local animal rights group – this kind of problem is something that the tree huggers don`t think about when they raid the farms labs etc
They are totally irresponsible, mink have been known to attack children also!!
i have something that has ate about 18 koi out of my pond on sunday all that is left is lots of blood all over the side of the pond, do you think it could be a mink? thanks
you can go to your hardware store and pick up a live trap. you can bate it with tuna fish or sardines and then wait for it to be humanely trapped. you can also release them into the wild. i would suggest doing it like 10 miles from your grandmothers house because they can find their way back if you release them too close. Also, beware. Mink STINK! They have horrible little oil glands so be aware of that when transporting.
A couple of more things to consider. As someone else mentioned mink stink and you can only use the same live trap about every other year, they can smell a distress scent on the trap and then even caviar won’t lure them back into the trap. So if you have more than one, the price of live traps will be about as high as the Koi losses. Leg hold traps also only work once – sort of. If you don’t check your trap before daybreak they have a tendency to gnaw there leg off and come back as three legged Koi thieves, never to be re-trapped. I was always surprised how many survive with three legs when I poison them. If you live in a cold climate you may have your best luck waiting until winter when the price of pelts is up and get the pros in to help. Living on a river doesn’t help, it’s there highway and for every one you trap, another will swim in to claim his Koi fishing rights. I had no idea they were such pests in the UK. Good luck. RScott
Fortunately, mink are readily caught in cage traps sited along the waterside and a great number can be accounted for with regular trapping programmes. The most popular baits for mink trapping are rabbit, liver, or pigeon ******* but any fish type bait like pilchards or kippers is equally as good.
Once caught, have them put down humanely. Releasing them back into the wild helps no-one. They are not native to the UK, do a vast amount of damage to our native species, such as the water vole, and are officially a pest.
Mink are not native, and do a lot of damage to our native wildlife. Resist any bunny-hugging tendancies, and trap / destroy them!
Are you allowed to have electric fences? The pond shop suggested I set an electric fence around the pond for raccoons. Apparently, they will touch it once and will come back a second time, but twice and they don’t return. Perhaps it will work with mink. Here in the U.S. the kits (wire, plastic posts and transformer) for a small pond cost $35-$50 so well worth the expense of saving the Koi Carp.
Another solution is an electronic cat repellant. It is a battery operated device and emits a high-pitch tone when activated by the motion. Depending on the size of your pond, one might cover it completely as it has a 45 to 60-degree eye. Mine is called Cat Stop and manufactured by ConTech located in Canada, purchased at our local farm supply store, uses a 9-volt battery. Likely, there are similar things available over the internet. It works for cats; surely the minks’ ears are just as sensitive.
Had the same problem as you. Phoned the Local Council and they just laughed. Phoned the RSPCA who told me they were regarded as a pest and I should purchase a cage to trap them and then to kill them. We bought 2 and baited them with kippers. First night we caught a cat but after that we got 6, using the same traps night after night. Be warned they are vicious and seem to have no fear. Kill them in the cage.
Mink are classed as vermin the same as rats and can be poisoned. Buy a trap bait it and poison them.
You could also call in a vermin control company like rent o kill to do the job for you but they can be a little bit expensive, but with good results. As mink have a very aggresive nature and can give you a nasty bite i would advise the latter.
I take exception to this, I really do Mr Scott. When you say ‘Mink Stink’ what are you comparing us with? Certainly not yourself and your minging armpits or cheese infested foreskin….. leave us minks alone!!
i keep finding the fish from my pond laying in the middle if the garden with their stomachs ripped out…. i now only have one fish left and want to restock but obviously not if something is going to keep taking my fish… do you think it could be mink?.. i cant put poison down as i have a dog.. any suggestions.. i live in the Cambridgeshire area of England
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All my fish “vanished” over winter. The winter ice came and they were fine then when Spring came no sign. Not even a carcass it was like they were abducted by aliens or something. My friends dad who is a prize koi keeper said it was Mink. We are not near a river but their is a stream about 200 yards away.
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