I can see them now, riding resplendant in red and green. The baying of the hounds as the hunt master call "View Halloooo!" The cunning mink dives into the water bank and scurries out of site down a hole. The exhausted and some what disappointed well to do canter back to the lodge for wine and tofu burgers.

Actually it is fascinating to think that two of the species on the planet who seemingly kill for fun are pitted against each other now in an elegant and idiotic game of hunt and hide.

Mink and other mustilidae (Ferrests, weasels, fishers,...)don't just kill to eat, the kill to kill. Mink and other nest robbers will raid a hen house, eat hens and eggs until full and then kill all the hen they can and destroy all the eggs. They do the same to pheasant, grouse, partridge, wild turkey as well as song birds.

When the PETA types let loose minks on farms they cut loose a fast breeding virus that quickly over runs the wild life in areas that weren't able to support the new inhabitant. The balance is lost and a new menace is on the land.

This is exactly what happened in an area of central New York about 40 years ago. The decline and elimination of most upland game birds was nearly complete in less than 5 years.

Don