Mink in a tree

This is a first for me.

I was walking my dog in a state park and we both saw something climbing the tree. . .

Our coon dog treed one in a little tree 50 years ago. MD

Yep, saw one last year while I was squirrel hunting. It went up several trees along a stone fence line and checked out every jole in the tree, just like a squirrel would.

It doesn’t surprise me that they are good climbers but I’ve never seen one up a tree, excellent capture!

Not uncommon they are good climbers.

Whistle pigs are good climbers as well, but rarely seen in trees. I shot one out of a black walnut tree many years ago...surprising to me at the time.

I knew groundhogs were climbers, I’ve seen four or five up in trees over the years.

Yes, they are good climbers. This was from a couple years back

I chased one a few years ago and it went up a big pine tree, I have caught several in fisher sets up a pole.

They get in marten boxes up in trees sometimes. Nice to actually see one up in a tree.

And that groundhog up in a tree is a new one to me - would have figured they'd be wrong shape to do that. Always something to learn.

While sitting in a tree stand, bowhunting, I often see mink in trees down in the river bottoms. Looks to me like they're hunting mice in dead trees. One time I noticed the red headed woodpeckers giving some critter a hard time chasing it from one tree to another starting maybe 50 yards away. I couldn't figure out what it was they were harassing 'til I brought the monocular up and sure enough . . a big mink would run into the cavity of a dead tree, then reappear up in the tree somewhere. Then off to the next dead tree, into it and up the trunk it would go. Got within 15 yards or so, downwind, and disappeared altogether. It's an unusual day I don't observe mink hunting during the day down in the river bottoms while sitting in a tree for several hours plus.

Great photos

I didn’t know that! I wonder if they will hunt and eat squirrels? Give those little jerks a run for their money!!!

Something like a decade ago, I had chipmunks ravaging my garden seed eating it before it could sprout. So I charged up a Crosman 114 and started keeping watch. One day I heard a chippy and went out the door with it and right next to my garden was the chippy WAY up in the top of a tree chirping away. I thought “huh, that’s odd, don’t think I have ever seen a chipmunk that high in a tree….”. I was trying to get a clear shot, and saw another chipmunk headed up that tree, maybe halfway up, and I thought “perfect, I will shoot that one first since the other one still has to come down.” Shot the lower one and then the upper one. Went to retrieve them both, and much to my surprise the lower one was a weasel. I was bummed because clearly the weasel was helping me with the chippy control, but you can’t untoast the toast. It was also probably a game violation being early summer like that and all, but again, toast…. Don’t see many weasels here in northern Indiana, but that’s not because they aren’t here - I actually saw several over the years at that place. They definitely can climb trees!

The neighbor lady saw one climb a 40 foot Oak and drag a squirrel out of a hole about 30 feet high. They both fell and hit the ground and the mink killed the squirrel and dragged it off. I have seen on climb my ash tree to access my Wood Duck box. I have also caught them in fisher sets I had on leaning tees about 5 feet off the ground.

I shot one out of a pine tree that had been raiding my garden.

I shot a wood chuck that had to be 40 feet up In tree At first I thought It was a small coon. I've caught a few mink In elevated marten boxes.

Shot the odd Woodchuck out of a tree a time or two myself. I have also seen Mink climb a tree before too, they were surprisingly agile up there.

Last January I was squirrel hunting and seen a mink chasing two squirrels around the trees, at first, I thought it was a black squirrel at first.

Yep, they will occasionally get in marten boxes. We don't have a lot of mink here and I've not caught one in a marten box, but I seen dad catch one in one one day when I was with him.

Get the odd one in a marten box in the fall,usually in a box near a creek. I caught 3 mink in one day in elevated marten boxes on a 4km spur that ran along a creek.It was in january right during a mid winter thaw.
Mink hunt subnivean here moreso than marten or any other animal.They go under as soon as the powder snow gets about half a foot deep.
The other time they come up(and show up occasionally in a marten box) is in February when the males get to roaming all over.