American mink: recklessly destroys the ecosystem of our country and Europe (8 photos)

The American mink is not only valuable fur, but also a couple of kilograms of pure hatred for all living things. Three times more? It doesn't matter. Are you a fast runner or a good swimmer? It doesn't matter. This terminator in a luxurious fur coat will find and destroy.





The same one strangling from his brother.

The American, or eastern mink is one of the most vicious and cruel representatives of the weasel family. Only the wolverine and the honey badger can compete with it, but their dimensions are several times larger. And here - two inches from the pot. More precisely, 2 kg in weight and half a meter in length. But it kills adult hares and huge snakes as if nothing had happened. Huge fish, waterfowl, muskrats - there too. These crazy ones even try to hunt herons and cormorants! And the birds are several dozen times bigger!



Every time you are afraid to try to do something, remember the American mink. It didn't even have a chance to bring down this giant heron. But trying is not torture!

But the most important thing: the mind-blowing wool terminators contributed to the extinction of our local, European minks. Because they can afford it: American minks are one and a half times larger, they have more powerful jaws and absolutely no brakes. Initially, these predators were found only in North America and, it must be said, they were not allowed to run amok there. Their numbers were kept under control both on the ground and from the air: this was done and continues to be done by eagles, eagle owls, lynxes, coyotes, pumas, and sometimes even people. There, the American mink is an important and necessary predator of the ecosystem, from which you can also get fur. And if the local fauna can somehow restrain these crazy predators, then Eurasia was completely unprepared for this.





He quietly stole it and left, that's what it's called — found it.

On our continent, the European mink has lived since time immemorial. They are smaller and calmer. The key word is "smaller" — in the 1920-1950s, people decided that it would be much more profitable to bring in an American animal instead of a local one. About 20,000 individuals were introduced to the USSR alone — for breeding on fur farms and simply to release them into the wild. Of course, no one thought about ecology then, the plan had to be exceeded. And now a woolly monster bursts into the already settled nature, and everyone is done for. Especially our native European mink.



Minks communicate with each other under two circumstances: when they are defending their borders and during the breeding season. And this photo does not exude romance...

A foreigner took away her land. All minks are territorial animals. They arrange a shelter that goes 1.5-3 meters deep. This is not just a tunnel, but a full-fledged apartment: with several emergency exits, a bedroom and a storage room. The American invaders brazenly occupied all suitable hollows. And what they didn't occupy, they took away. They drove the European minks out of their nests by force.



Such an innocent look, as if she wasn't carrying a snake, but a garden hose from the dacha!

Along with the house, the American mink took away the hunting grounds from the European mink. The predators locate their domains near stagnant or slow-flowing bodies of water. The basis of their diet is everything that lives in them. Minks will collect crayfish and mollusks, and will enter into a fight with a huge carp, and will catch muskrats and water voles. Their thick and lush fur is designed for underwater hunting - it is so dense that it repels excess moisture, preventing the animal from getting wet.



The entire mink diet can be described in three words - "beer snack".

European minks, displaced from the best hunting grounds, are not completely deprived of food. They switch to less suitable food. For example, they attack domestic birds and collect food waste. But here, too, the American mink has outdone them! Thanks to its greater strength and size, it calmly hunts deep in the forests: it chases hares, destroys nests, and hunts mice. There is not a single place where the European mink can hide from the oppression of the American invader!



Thanks to its thick fur, the mink is able to hunt underwater even in winter!

American minks have even managed to stick their noses into the personal lives of Europeans! The fact is that the larger and more brazen muchachos from the New World appeal to female European minks much more than their more modest males. As a result, the ladies choose hot foreigners as partners. The problem is that American and European minks cannot produce offspring. Although these species are similar in appearance, the genetic difference between them is colossal! As a result, the female European mink misses the breeding season and drops out of the reproductive race.



Minks reproduce very quickly. Both European and American. In one litter: from 2 to 6 puppies. All of them become independent after 4-5 months after birth.

Today, it is impossible to say exactly how many tens of thousands or millions of American minks terrorize our continent. Because they go hunting at dusk, deftly avoid traps and are rarely seen by biologists. One thing is clear - the situation is deplorable, and the idea of ​​​​getting a lot of fur was a failure.