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Otter or Mink?

RogerDerby
26/02/2023 14:10

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

  • 0 26/02/2023 14:33

    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).

  • 0 26/02/2023 15:05
    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
  • 0 26/02/2023 15:13

    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" Stuck out tongue closed eyesStuck out tongue closed eyesGrinning

  • 0 26/02/2023 17:48
    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

  • 0 26/02/2023 20:58
    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
  • 0 27/02/2023 03:13

    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