Frolicking group of mink, including an albino, spark social media stir in Port Washington

This month there have been increased sightings and social media posts from Port Washington of what to the untrained eye might look like escaped pet ferrets. They're not. They are mink, wild animals native to Wisconsin.

The unusual thing about this group, or company, of mink seen at the Port Washington Marina is that there has been a white one among them.

Videos of the mink playing with a plant and frolicking together were originally posted to the Port Washington Voice Facebook group.

Julie Qualls, who was visiting her family in Port Washington, posted a video of the mink that she had seen July 15. Qualls said that they had almost come right up to her, her mother and her cousin.

"I’ve been hearing that minks are not nice and can be dangerous, but I couldn’t help myself," said Qualls. "They were so cute, the way they played like little puppies or kittens."

The white mink is albino, a DNR official says

Ozaukee County's DNR wildlife biologist, Steffen Peterson, said that the white mink is albino.

"Mink, unlike short-tailed (ermine) and long-tailed weasels, do not have white pelage in winter but are typically a rich brown color and can have white patches on the chin, throat and sometime chest," said Peterson.

Peterson said the video in the Facebook post led him to believe that the white mink is the mother and the other, darker ones are young pups.

The American mink are furbearers and semi-aquatic carnivores

The American mink falls into the category of furbearers under the DNR's classification of animals used for their resources. Furbearers are mammals whose fur has commercial value, according to the DNR's page about them.

The page says that traditionally mink are trapped for their fur, most prominently in the fur trading era, but not all of Wisconsin's furbearers may be harvested in the present day.

Mink are semi-aquatic carnivores that eat muskrat, fish, reptiles, amphibians, waterfowl, eggs and small mammals like mice, according to the DNR. Mink can usually weigh between 1.5 and 2 pounds; males are larger than females.

Mink, despite historically being trapped and used for fur, are excellent hunters themselves and have recently been used to assist as ratters in pest control operations. One Youtuber who gained notoriety for his use of mink for pest control is Utah resident Joseph Carter, known as The "Mink Man" online.

Some are worried the mink seen in Port Washington will be taken away

Some Facebook users asked for people to leave the mink alone to enjoy their natural lives down by the port and other places they may be seen.

Others asked for the videos to be taken down out of fear that someone might call animal control to take the mink away from their habitat, similarly to how a fox and her 3-month-old kits in Port Washington were separated by a Mequon animal control company in May 2023.

According to an article in the Ozaukee Press, public outrage ensued after the fox kits were taken from their den by a company hired by one or multiple residents of a nearby condo complex. The article stated that there were reports of the mother fox wailing at the sight of her kits stuck in the traps set out by the company.

The kits were temporarily relocated to Pine View Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center in Fredonia, but staff and residents worry that the fox family will never be reunited, even after they were released back into the wild.

However, Peterson told the Journal Sentinel that the DNR's role in removing animals either lethally or non-lethally, in most cases, is limited to providing guidance, permitting required for particular species and offering contact information for local trappers or rehabilitation facilities.

"Occasionally, we may assist in the euthanasia of a sick or injured animal or removal (lethal or non-lethal) of an animal when it is a concern for public safety," Peterson said.

In the case of the foxes, Peterson said the owner of the property on which the foxes were located would not have needed to contact the DNR to remove them.

According to Peterson, landowners and occupants are required to have a valid DNR permit to shoot or trap an otter, fisher, badger, flying squirrel, mink or bobcat. Those who remove animals for landowners or occupants are required to have a valid hunting or a trapping license.

The mink are not a nuisance, and no one has filled out the permit application to remove nuisance animals regarding them, Peterson said.

"At this time, you are the only individual who has contacted me regarding the mink," Peterson told a Journal Sentinel reporter. "And it does not appear that they are causing damage or viewed as a nuisance by the landholder, I'm assuming a municipality."

Contact Angelika Ytuarte at AYtuarte@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Albino mink spotted at Port Washington Marina with a company of others