How Lucky Can a Girl Get?

Yesterday after leaving work, I saw a mink lying dead on the side of the road.  I was in a hurry to get to a class, so I didn't stop to pick it up.   This afternoon, while out running an errand, I saw it was still there.  I was tempted to stop, but figured it had been there at least two days...might not be in the best of shape.

When I got back to work, I shared with Carrie that I had seen the mink.  "Did you bring it back?!?!" she asked.  No...and I told her why.

Well, not five minutes later, two of our wonderful volunteers stopped in.  "Hey - do you want a dead mink?"

How could I say no?  These fellas know how to treat a girl right!

So I went out and retrieved it from the back of the pick up.  What a beauty - very healthy-looking  (except for being dead) and robust...huge! 

Of course, Carrie and I had to do a photo shoot of it before bagging it up for the freezer.

The poor thing was COVERED with fleas and ticks!  Literally crawling with them.  I'd have thought that after 24 hours they would've abandoned the body, but they were still there.

A very good way to verify one has a mink is to look for the white chin.

But did you know they also have two white spots on their inner thighs?  I wonder if they indicate scent glands.  Hm.  Will have to do some research on that.

 

Minks have very small ears.  This probably helps with heat conservation, especially when swimming in frigid waters in the winter.

 

They also have partially webbed toes.  Their cousin the otter has fully webbed toes, because it spends so much time in the water.  Minks spend a bit less time swimming, possibly because they are very efficient land hunters and therefore don't have to catch fish for most of their meals.

So, many thanks to Bill and Mark for bringing us this wonderful specimen.  For now it will go into a freezer and hopefully we can get it taxidermied soon - it is too lovely a specimen to lose!

Getting Ready

It's been a chilly winter.  Three years ago we were looking at temps in the 70s and 80s during our maple sugaring season, but this year we will be overjoyed when the temps finally creep above freezing and the sap starts to flow.  It might happen this weekend!

Hasn't happened yet.

Still, next week we have our first school group out to earn about the maple sugaring process, so it was time to get the trees tapped.

Many thanks to Bob, Paul, Keith, John, and Renee who came out and donated their time this morning to help us set up.

 

Bird Banding

 This last Saturday we had Allen Chartier out for another session of bird banding.  The program had originally been planned for Valentine's Day, but it was just too cold.  This Saturday it looked like it would be too cold again.  Due to stress on the birds, Allen does not like to band when it is less than 10*F outside, and 20*F is his preference.  It was -11*F when we were setting up, but luckily this time of year the sun has a good bit of warmth to it, and it was above 10*F by 10:30...safe enough.

Usually, Allen strings up a couple mist nets, as well as setting up a cage trap or two.  Again, because of the cold and the extra stress the mist net causes for captured birds, he chose to just use the cage traps.

The program began with a presentation about why researchers capture and band birds - a very nice overview, which answered a lot of questions people had.  Then we (he) got down to the business of catching and banding the birds.

Once a bird was in the trap, Allen would go out and retrieve it, placing it gently in a small cloth bag.

Back inside, a band is placed on the bird's leg and quick measurements are made:  tail and wing lengths, a check for fat deposits, a quick estimate of age, 

and weight.

Then Allen brings the bird around so everyone can see it up close.

Everyone's favorite part is getting to let the birds go.  We caught seven downy woodpeckers this day, and three children who were there, plus a couple adults, got to release the birds back outside.

Here's a sample of Allen's presentation: