Yes, mink trapping is entirely legal in England, Wales and Scotland. Once a mink has been caught, though, it is illegal to release it alive. The animal should be humanely dispatched. The only mink in Britain are American mink, imported many decades ago for fur farming. The highly endangered European mink has never occurred [...]
It is legal to use both live traps and kill traps. The disadvantage of kill traps is that they trap indiscriminately, and 'non-target' creatures may be killed. Live traps simply restrain the animal, allowing non-target creatures to be released unharmed. The disadvantage of live traps is that either they must be physically checked every [...]
The most humane and rapid way to dispatch a mink is to shoot it through the head. Death is immediate and painless. WRT recommends the use of a .22 air rifle. Those under the Firearm Certificate power threshold can be freely bought, held and used in England and Wales with no license, but the [...]
A mink carcass is a potential source of valuable information. Whenever possible, WRT and its partners aim to collect, examine and sample every one captured or found dead, anxious to learn its age, sex, reproductive status, where it came from and which other mink it's related to (both from genetics). We would be very [...]
Mink are semi-aquatic, and spend most of their time in or near water. The vast majority live on streams, rivers, canals, ponds and lakes, but many in west Scotland, especially, are equally at home on coastal fringes. Your chances of catching a mink are consequently greatly enhanced if you place your trap on or [...]
A Remote Monitoring Device is simply an electronic box that is attached to a trap, senses when the trap door closes, and then immediately initiates a process which leads to one or more nominated people being informed of the event by email and phone text message. The RMD doesn't link to the trapper(s) directly, [...]
The most basic mink trap is just that - a trap. A cheap cage trap can be bought for £35, and will last for years, but will require a physical check at least once a day when set, and preferably more often than that. WRT uses a robust, high-quality trap that is rather more [...]
For an experienced person, with tools and ancillaries at hand, It takes about an hour to get the RMD working, the trap tested and the raft assembled. Instructions are available on the WRT website. Further time will be required to get set up on the RMD web portal, and to register the RMDs. Once [...]
Mink are resident and kill prey year-round. Catches tend to be higher during the juvenile dispersal period Aug-Oct and during the mating season of Jan-Apr, but mink can be caught at any time of year. The best day to start trapping is therefore today, and traps should remain active continuously, year-round if at all [...]
This all depends on your circumstances. Someone with a short stretch of waterway at the end of their garden will need no more than one smart raft. But a fishing club or a nature reserve would most likely need 2-6, and most Internal Drainage Boards would need 10-30 units in order to clear their [...]
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