Possible rare sighting of American Mink in Northport
Local naturalist, Peter Janow, tells News 12 he captured images of an American mink on a trail camera earlier this month.
Not something you see every day on Long Island – a rare mink may have recently made an appearance in Suffolk County.
Local naturalist and native Long Islander, Peter Janow, tells News 12 he captured images of an American mink on a trail camera earlier this month.
Janow, founder of the environmental nonprofit, Long Island Nature Corps, says he spotted the primarily nocturnal animal just after midnight on Aug. 4 in Northport.
The possible sighting “highlights the importance of preserving habitat, improving wildlife connectivity, and taking simple steps to preventing roadkill, a major problem for wildlife on LI and specifically the area where this mink was spotted,” Janow said.
This apparent mink, a small, semi-aquatic meat-eating mammal, looked to be carrying a bird in its mouth.
The New York State DEC’s Long Island office gets a couple of mink sighting reports a year. However, they say those reports do not usually come with enough information to be verified.
Janow also contacted the DEC to try to confirm what he believes is the first time this particular animal has been seen in our area in 31 years.
