answersLogoWhite

0

The European minks main diet is fish, American minks take a wider range of prey.

Minks mostly eat small mammals like as meadow voles and shrews. They swim and dive underwater to catch fish and crayfish. They will also eat birds, eggs, frogs, clams, freshwater mussels, snakes, rats, ground squirrels, salamanders, and a variety of insects. Larger males will attack and eat small rabbits. Young muskrats are vulnerable to attack from minks during the fall when dispersing from their nests. They can catch trout with ease, and have been known to catch a trout up to 1 foot in length. Occasionally, they will attack and eat ducks. They are also known to raid poultry houses. Minks have been known the be attracted to traps with carcasses of other animals suggesting they also feed on carrion.

Minks feed on rodents, mice, rabbits and muskrats, small birds and several aquatic animals, like frogs, fish and crayfish. It seldom eats insects or carrion.

Mink raised on farms primarily eat food not fit for human consumption, including expired cheese, eggs, fish, meat and poultry slaughterhouse by-products, dog food, and turkey livers, as well as prepared, commercial foods. A farm with 3000 mink may use as much as two tons of food per day. One Wisconsin fur farm uses 2 million pounds of expired cheese and 1 million pounds of eggs per year. In all, US mink farms use about 200,000 tons of dairy products.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?