American Black Mink on canal

Lock 8 on the Shropshire Union canal at Audlem provided quite a view for a local resident and a visiting boater passing through the lock.

Geoff Farr reports that an American Black Mink – unfortunately not the one in the photo – was seen strolling around very confidently and unafraid of the humans watching him.

The mink passed back and forth across the lock – using the same route as us humans, not the wet alternative.

Otters and mink have been spotted on a number of occasions in recent years. Otters are much larger, perhaps three times so. It is possible that the mink originated from the large number that was released by activists a decade or so ago in Staffordshire.

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