December Food Habits of Mink in Missouri

This study was conducted during the years 1951 to 1953, inclusive, with three principal objectives: (1) to learn the general winter feeding habits of mink in Missouri, as an aid to management; (2) to learn the extent of predation upon other managed species during the winter when foods are most difficult to obtain; and (3) to obtain information of value in appraising good mink habitat. The mink, Mustela vison, ranks first in value among the furbearers of Missouri. An average annual take of about 16,775 pelts during the years 1950 to 1954, inclusive, brought more than a quarter of a million dollars each year to trappers and hunters. Prices for mink pelts have remained relatively stable at about $15.00 each, but annual take has declined in recent years (Sampson, 1956). Materials for this study were collected with the cooperation of other Commission biologists, hunters, trappers, and fur buyers. Names of successful mink takers were obtained from fur harvest records. These and selected fur buyers were requested to save mink carcasses for study. Volunteer cooperators were supplied with one-gallon wide-mouthed jars or lard cans which contained a 10 per cent formaldehyde solution for preserving materials. Seventy-one of 89 cooperators who volunteered saved 362 carcasses for study during the 1951 (December) season. Sixty-three from essentially the same group saved 403 carcasses during December, 1952, while 36 of 50 cooperators saved 263 carcasses for study during December, 1953.