What animal did I just see?

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Matt Brown

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Does anybody know what animal I saw last nigh?

It was around a foot long, maybe a little more, with glossy black hair. It crossed the open part of my peg and took around 40 seconds to do it so I had a good look.

I've seen Mink before on the river but they have been huge in comparison to this?

I've searched Google images and only Mink look similar or the same.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay

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Could have been a weasel Matt. People tell me they can vary in colour and they are not as big as a stoat, polecat or mink.

On ther otherhand it could be a baby mink.

Weasels stoats and polecats are very timid indeed, whereas mink are very inquisitive, if at times arrogantly so.
 
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Wolfman Woody

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Did it have white around its face?

Did it have a white belly, throat and chin?

Was it all black or blackish and was the tail tip truly black?

Sounds very much like a young mink to me, but it could have been one of Monk's ferrets on holiday.
 
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Matt Brown

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It was all Black.

Just imagine, in future we'll all have a hi-res camera strapped or implanted into our heads so we can records moving or still footage.
 
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Shrek

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You could have told the difference if it was either a weasal or a stoat because "weasals are weasilly distunguished while stoats are stoatally different".
 
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Phil Heaton

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If it was around Doncaster it was certainly a mink....there are more of them than rats.
 
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Matt Brown

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Very good Adrian!

Phil, I've only seen 3 Mink on the Don before but there were four or five times the weight of this.
 
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Bryan Baron 2

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Proberbly a young mink. I had one on the Ribble come out right in front of me same colouration as yours. Does anybody know if they are all born the same colour.


Heard the splashing thought iy was a Salmon or a Sea trout moving up the shallows. Till i turned on my headlight. In the beam were these 2 bright eyes starring back at me. It sat there for a few minutes as soon as i moved to get the camera it started to wander of down the bank.
 
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matthew nightingale

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In my experience of mink on the Ribble they are very small and very dark in colour. They tend to run right on the edge of the water; almost one foot in and one out if you like. I've even had them run underneath by legs while fishing.

I was out on Friday night and something much bigger swam through my swim. I've never seen a mink swim and it was much bigger. I presume it was a weasel.

I think the real decider may be behaviour rather than size or colour; perhaps someone can advise.
 
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sash

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Weasel is much smaller than a mink. I've seen mink bigger than most pet cats.
 
F

Feeling tranquil

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Mink Matt - no question.

Adrian - that was really lame! Up there with the difference between a bison and a buffalo that was.
 
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Phil Hackett PCPL with Pride

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Matt B agree with others a mink probably a young one.

Matt N if you were fishing in the Balderstone area, a mile up or down of it and either side of the river, you may have seen one of the Ribble otters.

I'll say no more on their precise location other than that.
Towards the back end of last season three of us saw the dog otter in that area.
 
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matthew nightingale

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Phil,

Could well have been an otter; about 18 inches long with a head about 2 inches long with a distinct brown colour?

My wife is sure she saw two otters in the Ribble at Ribchester a coupel fo years ago.

Sash; do mink really grow that big?
 
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ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

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If it was a weasel it would have gone POP!!
 
E

ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)

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There are otters in the Ribble -- I've seen them years ago
 
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sash

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Yep,

Watched one on the upper Welland last Winter stalking a moorhen and it was huge, easily the size of a small dog. Must admit I was shocked at the time but it was definately a mink as I was sat 10 yards away and watched it for a good 20 minutes.

Unless of course it was a panther??!! lol
 
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Gary Knowles 2

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Baby mink.

Matt an otter is a lot bigger than that.
 
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Bryan Baron 2

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thats one of the good reasons on the Otters return they kill Mink. Even a big Mink is no match for a Otter. If i remember right a Otter has a broader head than a mink.
 
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