Many years ago I spent a couple of summers with my oldest brother and his family in Streamwood IL.  Like most teenagers I felt misunderstood and awkward most of the time but I found solice in riding my brothers ten speed bike at the nearby bike trails.  There was this steep hill that I would go flying down as fast as the wind it seemed and then I would ride over a small creek and spend hours riding the rest of the trails.  One of those near perfect summer days I aimed the bike down the hill as I had done many times before but on this particular day I would have company.  When I was at full speed a sleek black mink ran directly in front of my front wheel, I braked hard and then skidded to a stop, the mink was of course safe and I spent the better part of the next hour trying to find him or her again.  I never saw hide nor hair of the mink again but from that moment on I was fascinated by them. 

As I mentioned on our homepage, we volunteered with a couple of animal rescues over the years and whenever a mink would come into the shelter we'd take them home.  I want to make very clear that mink do not make good pets, they are bred for their fur not their temperament.  Mink often have very short tempers and can bite to the bone and not let go, after all in the wild if a mink just let go of its dinner when it struggled then they wouldn't eat very often.  So it is instinct for them to hang on for dear life when provoked and it takes very little to provoke a mink!  They also scream, express their anal glands, swim in the toilet, harass all your other pets and just plain get into mischief.  So if after all of this you still want information on mink as pets or if you already have one and just want to swap stories I'd love to talk with you, just send me an email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  I have roughly 10 years with mink in my life and have placed numerous mink over the years with other like minded people.  However if you do not love mink they will know and they have the ability to make your life completely miserable. Children and some husbands who act like kids are not a good combination with a mink in the house!   We don't leave children alone in a room with the mink when they are visiting and we hold that policy for some adults too. 

Rowdy really is that chubby!  We feed him a light food but he was bred to be a big boy.  Some mink are bred for the quality of their fur, a special color or in Rowdys case, just to be really big.  Rowdy is five years old and in mink years he is ancient.  Mink on the farm or in the wild rarely live past two. 

Rowdy crossed the rainbow bridge on January 18th, 2010.  We found him dragging his back legs the Friday before and dispite treatment he could not regain control over his back end.  He had a great life and we have no regrets over his care, mink rarely live past two and Rowdy was almost six years old.  He was a happy mink and because of him, many people came to see mink not as vicious killers but just another animal in God's Creation, trying to survive the best way they can with the basic instincts that they were given.  We will never forget him and will forever miss his spirit, energy and giggles. 

Toby is our oldest mink, he is a black silver cross and is roughly 6 or 7 years old in this photo.  We are very sorry to announce that Toby passed away last night.  He will be missed but will always remain alive in our hearts and memories.  5/30/09

Meet Sonya our newest mink.  After she escaped from a mink farm she was found in a subdivision by a very nice family who kept her until I could pick her up.  She is still adjusting to living in a home but after she catches on to using a litter pan and calms down a bit she will be up for adoption.  There will be a $50.00 adoption fee and a very careful screening process.  **Update**Sonya has been with us for several months now and refuses to use a litter box.  She does potty in one corner so she is still easy to clean up after but I doubt she will ever be litter box trained.  She is curious and has calmed down but most likely she will never really tame down and will always remain wild at heart.  6/28/09