Visited by a Mink

When I arrived home Kerry and Hazel were around the chicken pen looking a little distressed. “A mink has killed a chicken and it’s still here she said”. I parked the car and went to investigate.

The mink was hiding under the chicken pen and occasionally popped its head out to try and drag its kill through a 2 inch hole. I went inside to get a rifle. (I have a proper rifle now, I don’t think I’ve spoken about it. That rifle would have been a bit much for this operation so I grabbed an air rifle.) When I returned I pulled the chicken 6 inches away from the hole and waited for the mink to grab it again. When it did so I pointed the rifle point blank at its head and pulled the trigger. I knew by the sound of the rifle that no projectile exited the barrel, it wasn’t loaded so the mink just got a face full of air. It didn’t deter it though. I made sure the rifle was loaded, pulled the chicken back again and repeated my action, this time shooting the mink. The mink had managed to retreat beneath the pen though so I had to it to retrieve the body of mink.

Kerry mentioned that ‘Pecky Fasty’ was missing too and thought it might be scared. The other chickens were noticeably disturbed by the goings on. It was a surprise to be visited by the mink, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one close up, but it was no surprise that our chickens had been taken by such a ferocious animal. Our chickens are super friendly and on seeing the mink they had probably tried to befriend it and give it a cuddle.

I found ‘Pecky Fasty’ with her head separated beside her body, I think she had been the first casualty.

Darwin was obviously upset but we eventually got over it and it wasn’t long before he was trying to get the chickens to sit on his head.