Dundrum man says he spotted mink in garden

Dundrum man says he spotted mink in garden

14 February 2018

A DUNDRUM man welcomed an unexpected visitor to his garden on Thursday morning.

Wilfie Swain was walking in his garden when an animal suddenly appeared from underneath a shed. He ran to the house to get his camera and was able to get six shots of it before it disappeared.

“I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw it, wondering what it was, as I had never seen anything like it,” said Mr Swain.

“I was approximately four metres from it at the time with a zoom lens on camera.

“I have shown the photos to a few people and they thought it may be a ferret, weasel, or a stoat, but after some research on Google 

I am 99 per cent sure it is in fact a wild mink. 

“I estimate the animal was approximately two feet long with a long bushy tail and head the size of a domestic cat — much too big for a ferret.”

Theories surrounding the occasional appearances of wild mink in the UK and Ireland tend to relate the release of mink from mink farms.

“A number of years ago a lot, about 5,000, were let out from a farm in Donegal,” Wilfie said.

And while the mink escapees have undoubtedly had a better life, environmentally they can cause a lot of damage.

“It really is a disaster as they get to do a lot of harm to wildlife,” he said.

Wilfie isn’t sure where this particular creature came from but he does live near a river, which may be linked to its appearance.

“I do realise mink are mostly dark, almost black, but I have brought up online photos of them almost identical to this one. Maybe some Recorder readers will have other suggestions as to its identity.”