American Mink with kit, Mississippi River, Green island Wetlands, Iowa
Today’s photo is not more than a documentary shot, the photo lacks some sharpness, but it was such a nice encounter that I like to show it anyway. Yesterday Joan and I went for a drive to some of the nature locations I visit frequently. One of them was the Green Island Wetlands, which is still flooded and only partly accessible. As we stopped briefly while on one of the dykes I saw suddenly an American Mink with two little kits disappearing in the tall grass and bushes that grow along the dyke. It happened at some distance in front of the car and so quickly that there wasn’t even time to get out of the car. We waited for a minute, hoping to see the minks again. Suddenly the mother came out of the dense vegetation without the two kits and ran back from where she came from the first time. After a little while she came back and with her was another little kit. I took some pictures but failed to get a sharp image. Well, I had another chance. She went back again and a little later a fourth young mink was guided to the place where obviously its siblings were waiting. I supported the lens on top of the car door but heat shimmer over the gravel road and the fast movement of the minks made it very difficult to obtain focus. The picture is heavily cropped, I’m not very proud of it, but the fun we had watching the mink with a litter of four was priceless…