Hello - can anyone help us identify if these are otters or mink please?
Here is the link to the video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZyRUqhg_C-eJ8v8X3YRgToBTyQVJrWQ4/view?usp=share_link
Many thanks!
Roger
I am no expert, but they've got to be otters haven't they? Proportions esp tail, and obvious pale underneath. Happy to stand corrected if they aren't.
I think minks have a more ratty pointed face, not the prettiest having seen them and the havoc they create, so I would say otters too (although I've never seen an otter).
I'd agree with Robbo re the proportions, and pale underside, plus they also look quite chunky big.... I've only had fleeting glimpse of mink, but thought they were quite slight
PimperneBloke said:I'd agree with Robbo re the proportions, and pale underside, plus they also look quite chunky big....
Isn't that "quite chunky big" covered by "proportions"? ;-)
But yes, I agree. I have seen both, but otters in particular, I've not seen roaming around on land, and not in the dark (other than on TV).
Well it may be, but as you then went on to tail, I thought you may have meant tail to body proportions, and big could just be length, and now I'm just blathering like a fool... so yes, Robbo... "chunky big" is covered by "proportions", and I unreservedly withdraw all comments to do with size, weight, comparative lengthe etc etc. And if I keep typing this nonsense your eyes will eventually start to bleed and you'll say "Oh, yeah, PB, I see what you mean" 
I've seen a few Mink, and looking at the video I'd say it's more likely an Otter. It has a long strong looking tail, is quite a large animal and strong face when compared to the Mink.
Richard B
Very many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this puzzle! We are real novices in this and so we are overwhelmed by your responses!
We should have added that there is a very slow flowing ditch/stream fed from a pond which is where they appeared from and there is woodland around. Within the last 3 days we have seen a fox, badgers and muntjac in the same place! We are in South Oxfordshire...
We have been very mystified about the question of otters vs minks - but having had your input and watching some YouTube videos of otters and minks we have also come to the conclusion that this is indeed a pair of otters!
Our camera is up there again tonight and if we have any further sightings we will let you know!
Thanks again
Roger and Sally
We should have added that there is a very slow flowing ditch/stream fed from a pond which is where they appeared from and there is woodland around. Within the last 3 days we have seen a fox, badgers and muntjac in the same place! We are in South Oxfordshire...
We have been very mystified about the question of otters vs minks - but having had your input and watching some YouTube videos of otters and minks we have also come to the conclusion that this is indeed a pair of otters!
Our camera is up there again tonight and if we have any further sightings we will let you know!
Thanks again
Roger and Sally
Hi Roger and Sally, welcome to the forum. Sorry, I cannot offer an answer to your question, but I would love to see more videos if you can capture any more. Male mink can give an appearance of some chunkiness, similar to an Otter, since male mink are bigger than the females and have chunkier faces. But of course, Otters definitely are bigger than mink.
And by the way, Everyone, as a matter of curiosity (if a pedantic one--Lol!) and which some of you know, mink, much like deer, is the singular and the plural word for the critters--neither mink nor deer needs an 's' to be plural! Or at least that was the case when I was a nipper--time may have changed the language...
Kind regards, Ann