A trail camera in Northport, Suffolk County, has captured what wildlife researchers believe to be an American mink, marking a potentially significant return for the species to Long Island after a 31-year absence.
Naturalist Peter Janow, founder of the Long Island Nature Corps, discovered the footage on a camera he set up in Northport near the North Shore. The images and a short video, captured shortly after midnight on August 4, appear to show the semi-aquatic carnivore carrying a bird. Janow stated that this marks the first potential sighting of an American mink on Long Island since 1996.
Mike Bottini, a wildlife biologist with the Seatuck Environmental Association, confirmed Janow's findings, stating definitively that the animal in the footage is an American mink. Bottini noted that while the 1996 sighting was reported, no photographic evidence existed from that time. He also mentioned that colleagues studying river otters often find mink evidence at otter latrine sites, but a yearlong study he conducted on Long Island in 2013 yielded no mink sightings.
The American mink, a member of the weasel family related to otters and ferrets, typically weighs between 1.5 and 3.5 pounds. It inhabits rivers, lakes, and wetlands, preying on fish, frogs, crayfish, and small mammals.
Janow, a retired Marine Corps pilot, has been tracking wildlife with trail cameras for approximately eight years in the Northport and Greater Huntington areas. His interest in finding a mink on Long Island began about three winters ago after encountering tracks he believed belonged to the species following a snowfall.
Bottini expressed surprise at the sighting, especially given that much of the mink's preferred habitat, including wetlands and salt marshes, remains present and protected on Long Island. The exact reasons for the species' apparent decline on the island remain unknown. Bottini also pointed to trapping as a possible contributing factor, as New York State Department of Environmental Conservation currently permits mink trapping alongside other furbearers on Long Island.
This rare wildlife event occurred in the same month that a large manta ray was observed in Long Island waters, another unusual sighting for the region.