Wednesday, July 13, 2011

M/ Alphabe-Thursday

MINK crossing the fallen stems of last year's cattails

I have seen a mink before but until a couple of weeks ago I had never gotten a good photo of one. Finally one day when I was taking photos at a local pond, I got lucky when a mink came ashore within range of my camera's lens. I say "lucky" because I suspect this mink was quite young, not people savvy.

Actually, I was taking photos of a great blue heron, which was really too far out in the pond for my lens to take take a good photo. I was standing very still hoping that the heron might move closer to me when I noticed the mink swimming into shore.  I refocused my camera and...

Hiding under a pile of cattails

click!  The mink heard my camera and scurried to hide. I waited a few minutes until the mink came out of its hiding place. The second click must not have seemed so scary, because the mink came all the way out and...

MINK looking straight at my lens

stood on its two hind legs to see if the coast was clear.

OOPS! That was the end of my photo op!

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE

47 comments:

Shammickite said...

WOW! Those shots are amazing. I have never seen a mink, you were so lucky to be in the right place at the right time.... but of course, that's when you get the best photo ops! Any idea if there is a large mink population in Ontario? Are they an indiginous species or an import?

TexWisGirl said...

oh, this was too cute!!! adorable!

MadSnapper said...

these are truly incredible shots. i did not know mink lived in the wild or that they swam or walked on cat tails, i thought they were domestic aniamls. so this means they are like our otter here or beavers. so sweet and adorable and these are really WAY COOL thanks

clairz said...

Wow, right place, right time, AND presence of mind. Not to mention presence of camera, and ability to focus under pressure. The more I use my camera, the more I admire wonderful captures like yours.

clairz said...

P.S. Weren't the people in the old Jalna books mink farmers?

Leif Hagen said...

Very cute little bugger! Your timing was absolutely perfect! Pardon me for saying but I do wonder if he'll end up as a Canadian mink coat?!

Malyss said...

What a great catch!! i 've never seen one in real life except in zoos.. So Lovely!!Your last pic is fabulous!

Unknown said...

Nicely done! While Minks are very curious, they are also notoriously shy. Good catch!

John
relaxedrush.blogspot.com
connectedtothevinephotography.blogspot.com

Diane AZ said...

How cute! Amazing encounter, great pictures. :)

Kathy said...

I'm sure I will never have the opportunity to even see a mink in the wild, much less to capture one through photography, so I'll just continue to live vicariously through your lens!

Fjällripan said...

Wow! How great to see and such good photos you got! Beautiful :)

RedPat said...

I actually saw a mink, last fall, running around by the ferry docks while waiting to head over to Centre Island! I was amazed! Nice pics of the little guy/girl!

Tina´s PicStory said...

Wow how cute! Great shots :)
LG Tina

Lúcia said...

I'd love to see one mink, they are soooo cute!!!
Great shots! ;-)

Tina´s PicStory said...

It was very warm that day! Now its raining since hours. :(

Heather{Our Life In a Click} said...

Wow! So cool ! I've never seen one up close like that (or ever). So cute!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

We have a lot of weasels in my neck of the woods and it's so much fun to catch sight of one!

What great captures! I love the pic of him looking right in your lens..

Nancy said...

Great capture, Genie. They are really quite elusive. :)

Judie said...

What wonderful luck for you to get these pictures!! They are so excellent. That mink looks cute, but they can be quite vicious. My son no longer has his prize chickens because of minks. I am so jealous of your photos!!!

Jenn Jilks said...

That is brilliant! Preparation meeting opportunity\ - or serendipity when you capture some other than that for which you'd set out a net.
I went out looking for lightning, found bats! Tis for a later post.

Cheers from Cottage Country!

Reader Wil said...

You were so fortunate to see this little fellow! The photos are brilliant, as if he stood right in front of you!
Have a great Thursday!

ellen b. said...

Love your captures of this cute little Mink! Well done!!

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

cute mink images.

Cildemer said...

Wow! Lucky you! The photos are wonderful!
Thanks for sharing;o)

***
Happy day***

George said...

These are fantastic pictures of the mink. The last one is priceless.

Jack said...

OK, EG, I surrender. I will NEVER catch a photo of a mink. In part because I didn't really know what they look like or where they live. Your last photo is great.

Al said...

Great shots - I've never seen a mink in real life.

Judy said...

By our home in Illinois there was a mink farm, only it was abandoned by the time we moved there. I would love to have seen them. Great shots!

Janie said...

Great captures of the mink! Must be rare to get an opportunity for those close ups.

Anonymous said...

What an awesome photo op! You've just got to love those baby animals that have no fear yet. Such a shame they can't learn a human with a camera is safe.

Teresa

Randy said...

What a cutie and so nice of him to pose for that last shot!

Rose said...

Wow! How lucky you were...great photos. And it is adorable.

Francisca said...

Your mink adventure is one of the reasons our hobby is so much fun: we are constantly on the lookout for something interesting to capture, and so often that presents us with wonderful surprises we might otherwise miss. Heart-warming shots, EG!

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

They are so much prettier in their natural habitat than as part of a coat.

Theresa Plas said...

O wow! Awesome photos! I would not have known that was a mink. So cute and curious. Happy "M" day!

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

Fantastic capture! I have not seen a mink before, and your is the closest I will get to see.

Halcyon said...

Oh my! He is so cute.
It must take a lot of them to make a coat. Never realized how small they are. Let's hope he remains out in the Canadian wild. :)

Splendid Little Stars said...

Oh wow! Great photos! I have never seen a mink before. How wonderful that you got such great shots! The mink looks like it's posing for you.

Lisa Gordon said...

Waaaay too cute! And I have never seen one in the wild before. I think he likes the camera :-)

Unknown said...

What a cutie! I am so glad he came out for a second look.

Cindy Adkins said...

Oh, the mink is such a cutie pie!!!

XO
Cindy

Pat said...

Great photographs! Your patience paid off!!
My great uncle used to raise mink years ago here in Northern Wisconsin. You can still see abandoned mink farms when driving around our rural areas. The movement away from expensive furs drove the farms out of business. We still see mink in the wild though & during the winter months they like to hide in our pole building - they are in their white fur phase then.

Unknown said...

Wow! Amazing photos! Talk about a chance encounter :) I'm glad that your patience paid off. That last one where the mink stared at your camera is amazing :)

Viola said...

Gorgeous!! Fantastic!! Lucky you!! :) Your shots are fantastic! :) Not many here having a mink in the lense..! :))

Pondside said...

Great shots!
We have mink in the wild here, and we have to be very careful for our hens. The mink will try to get into the coop and the destruction is horrific. They are right up there with otters and weasels in my 'don't like' list.

Jenny said...

I've never seen a mink before. She's really cute! Looks like a mohair fur stuffed animal! And those eyes! Wow.

What a marvelous capture! Thank you for sharing it.

A+

H said...

WOW! Fantastic shots!

Over here, mink are viewed less favourably because they are bigger cousins to our native pine martens and pole cats. Escaped mink wipe out the local populations of our native species.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.