It all started when Mom came to my room saying, "There is a mink in the shed. I'm not sure what to do!"I armed myself with all the protective gear I could find (knowing how vicious these things are!) and headed out to see what I could do.
Sure enough, there she was, hiding out under some folding chairs.
I gingerly lifted the chairs out to be able to get at her better, (while sitting on top of the chest freezer...I didn't want to get bit, ok?) and then oh so gently started to prod her with a broom.
She hissed at it once, then proceeded it sniff it curiously, decide it wasn't dangerous, and curl up and go to sleep.
Yes, I was literally hitting her with the broom and she was doing this:
She would look up now and again as if to say, "Stupid humans! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"
I'll spare you all the details, but she ended up behind the freezer (after me literally trying to pick her up with my shoe and boot her out the door...nothing doing, she did not want out) and I knew I only had one option. Pick.her.up.
So, I did.
You'll notice that I was prepared. My dad's heaviest winter coat and two pairs of thick gloves. (Two pair, because each glove had a hole in one finger or another) It wouldn't really have mattered...she didn't even flinch when I picked her up!
I carried her up the lane to an abandoned house behind us. I figured, if she was so dead set on finding a nice dry place to sleep, she could have free reign of an abandoned house. Sure enough, she ran right into the cellar entrance. Phew. What an intense couple of hours. Glad thats over with.
NOT!
A few hours later, she was back in our yard, rooting around as if she was a rabbit or the family dog or something. Here is a short video to show you how calm she really was. And yes, she was favoring one of her front paws.
A little while after I shot that video, she ran down the lane (while I was walking up it...that was freaky, it was like she was the family dog or something running out to greet me) and went to the neighbors. And we never saw her again after that. Here's hoping she found a nice home in minky heaven.
Hey, I can hope that, can't I? The reality is she'll probably be back!
What interesting thing has been going on in your life recently?
That's great! Hazen worked on a mink farm for years but I've only ever seen one in at the wildlife park. Love the picture of you holding it. I'm going to show Hazen when he gets home. =)
ReplyDeleteNormally you would NOT see a picture of me holding one, lol! :) They are really cute little buggers, tho...just their personality isn't as cute as their looks!
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