An American mink was captured on a path digital camera in Suffolk County — and wildlife researchers say it’s remarkably uncommon if it’s the cute little critter.
Lengthy Island naturalist Peter Janow caught what he believed to be an American mink on a path digital camera he arrange in Northport close to the North Shore simply after midnight on Aug. 4, he advised Information 12 Lengthy Island.
The picture exhibits the lovable water weasel showing to be carrying a chicken in its mouth.
He advised the outlet it marks the primary sighting of the American mink on Lengthy Island in 31 years.
The American mink is a small, semi-aquatic carnivore within the weasel household — associated to otters and ferrets — that usually weighs 1.5 to three.5 kilos and hunts fish, frogs, crayfish and small mammals in and round rivers, lakes and wetlands, in line with the Nationwide Wildlife Federation.
Janow — a retired Marine Corps pilot and founding father of Lengthy Island Nature Corps — has spent about eight years monitoring wildlife with path cameras throughout the Northport and Higher Huntington space, he advised Higher Lengthy Island.
He mentioned his curiosity find the mink began about three winters in the past, when he was out trying to find river otter tracks after a recent snowfall and got here throughout prints he believed belonged to a mink.
“I assumed it was only a matter of time earlier than I captured a mink on one in every of my path cameras,” he advised Higher Lengthy Island.
After reviewing a reminiscence card from a path digital camera that had not been checked in months, Janow spent two to 3 hours going by means of the recordsdata individually earlier than making a shocking discovery — two images and an roughly 15-second video that appeared to depict a mink.
Janow instantly despatched the findings to Seatuck Environmental Affiliation wildlife biologist Mike Bottini for affirmation.
“He got here again rapidly and mentioned, ‘Hey, yeah, that’s 100% an American mink,’” the naturalist recalled.
The animal was final reported on Lengthy Island in 1996, although no photographic proof exists from that sighting, Bottini advised Higher Lengthy Island.
Bottini mentioned colleagues learning river otters elsewhere routinely catch mink on path cameras at otter latrine websites — however when he ran a yearlong research at 10 such websites on Lengthy Island in 2013, not a single mink confirmed up.
“The mink scenario is a shock,” Bottini advised Higher Lengthy Island.
Bottini mentioned a lot of the mink’s most popular habitat — wetlands and salt marshes — nonetheless exists and is protected on Lengthy Island, although the explanation for his or her obvious decline stays unknown.
He additionally flagged trapping as a potential complicating issue, noting that the New York State Division of Environmental Conservation at the moment permits the trapping of mink, grey fox, striped skunk and long-tailed weasel on Lengthy Island.
The semi-aquatic animal’s look got here throughout the identical month because the world’s largest manta ray was caught lurking in Lengthy Island waters in one other uncommon look.
The majestic manta ray — which inhabits tropical, subtropical and temperate areas — was noticed feeding within the waters of Jones Seashore State Park in August.
The magnificent sea creature can reside as much as 40 years and develop to greater than 4,000 kilos, in line with the NYS Division of Environmental Conservation.
