A couple of years ago, an English PETA type group raided a mink farm, and released the little fuzz balls into the wild. Minks make otters look like Sunday School teachers. There are no natural enemies for them. They are the natural enemies.
I saw a white mink in north central PA a couple of years back. Otters and fishers are native but not mink to my knowledge. He was way up in the mountain on a tributary to a heritage stream. The bugger came out of a rock ledge in water less than 2' deep and took a fair sized trout. He went back under the rock and reappeared with his meal a good 15' from the bank. I've seen a number of otters and fishers decomposing near streams which leads me to believe anglers are shooting them. The fishers were reintroduced by the state in an effort to have a natural balance. The streams are no kill, not stocked for 20 years but continue to support a reasonable fishery. Rattlers are very scarce the last few years and one variety (Monongahela sp?) is endangered. The bald eagles are making a real comeback and I predict future discussion on curbing their numbers. Maybe PETA would like to have a few in their homes? Black bears, deer and elk seem at appropriate levels while elderbritches have all vanished. Turkeys are being seen more and more as their habitat dwindles, even saw one in back of my cabin in south central PA last year which is the first I saw there in 31 years. Murf Murf
