A mink has found Studio Gardens. The little monster has single-handedly killed 8 out of my 13 koi fish. It’s been a massacre.

I hadn’t noticed a decline in my number of fish until mid-late February. Not much for cold temperatures, I don’t go out to check them as often as I should in the off season. Plus, the fish are semi-dormant during the winter months. The few times I checked, the fish were hiding under their floating table for cover or under snow.

But on a warm day a few weeks ago, I walked outside in my robe to look at my fish only to see that mink standing on my floating table eating a fish twice his size! The nerve. The fish lay there helplessly flopping. I ran screaming towards the killer running it off. Now, I wish I had taken a photo of it because no one could possibly believe what I saw.

A mink is a vicious little creature afraid of nearly nothing. They often attack animals twice their size! They’re stronger than a lion for their size and able to run with something twice its weight in its mouth! And they’re voracious eaters often killing more than they can eat.

Unfortunately, I found that one out first hand. The little bastard.

Well, that’s living in the country. I realize this but I still hate it. My koi pond is my most favorite thing in my garden.

And then there were five.

So now I’m down to five and here they are. One died I think from the stress. For the koi fish that remain, the mink shredded their tails and fins trying to grab them. Mink are semi-aquatic.

Now, each year we do usually lose a fish or two to a crane. But I’ve never been wiped out like this. I’ve had my pond for 16 years and not even the otters I sometimes see have gotten my koi. The mink is a ruthless killer.

Thankfully, it’s been over a week now since I’ve seen the mink. Perhaps it’s because I’ve let Sandefur outside now that the weather is getting warmer and he ran it away. He’s a big cat, but I’m worried the mink would hurt or even kill him too given what I’ve read. But I can’t keep him in the greenhouse forever. I think he’s maybe run him off.

A friend of a friend stopped by and was going to set a trap for it but with Sandefur out we ended up not going that route. As much as I hate to, I may have to cover it with chicken wire.

Here’s a video I took that I shared on my Facebook garden page.

I’ve got another shocking story to share, but I’ll wait until next time. I hope you’re enjoying your weather wherever you are.

⟵Custom painted two man crosscut saw / Snake Incident ⟶

Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.

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