{"id":7508,"date":"2026-08-27T07:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7508"},"modified":"2026-08-27T07:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:06:45","slug":"rare-american-mink-possibly-spotted-on-long-island-for-first-time-in-31-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7508","title":{"rendered":"Rare American mink possibly spotted on Long Island for first time in 31 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An American mink was captured on a trail camera in Suffolk County \u2014 and wildlife researchers say it\u2019s remarkably rare if it is the adorable little critter.<\/p>\n

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Long Island naturalist Peter Janow caught what he believed to be an American mink on a trail camera he set up in Northport near the North Shore just after midnight on Aug. 4, he told News 12 Long Island.<\/p>\n

The image shows the cute water weasel appearing to be carrying a bird in its mouth.<\/p>\n

He told the outlet it marks the first sighting of the American mink on Long Island in 31 years.<\/p>\n

The American mink is a small, semi-aquatic carnivore in the weasel family \u2014 related to otters and ferrets \u2014 that typically weighs 1.5 to 3.5 pounds and hunts fish, frogs, crayfish and small mammals in and around rivers, lakes and wetlands, according to the National Wildlife Federation.<\/p>\n

Janow \u2014 a retired Marine Corps pilot and founder of Long Island Nature Corps \u2014 has spent about eight years tracking wildlife with trail cameras across the Northport and Greater Huntington area, he told Greater Long Island.<\/p>\n

He said his interest in finding the mink started about three winters ago, when he was out searching for river otter tracks after a fresh snowfall and came across prints he believed belonged to a mink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was just a matter of time before I captured a mink on one of my trail cameras,\u201d he told Greater Long Island.<\/p>\n

After reviewing a memory card from a trail camera that had not been checked in months, Janow spent two to three hours going through the files individually before making a stunning discovery \u2014 two photographs and an approximately 15-second video that appeared to depict a mink.<\/p>\n

Janow immediately sent the findings to Seatuck Environmental Association wildlife biologist Mike Bottini for confirmation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe came back quickly and said, \u2018Hey, yeah, that\u2019s 100 percent an American mink,’\u201d the naturalist recalled.<\/p>\n

The animal was last reported on Long Island in 1996, though no photographic evidence exists from that sighting, Bottini told Greater Long Island.<\/p>\n

Bottini said colleagues studying river otters elsewhere routinely catch mink on trail cameras at otter latrine sites \u2014 but when he ran a yearlong study at 10 such sites on Long Island in 2013, not a single mink showed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mink situation is a shock,\u201d Bottini told Greater Long Island.<\/p>\n

Bottini said much of the mink\u2019s preferred habitat \u2014 wetlands and salt marshes \u2014 still exists and is protected on Long Island, though the reason for their apparent decline remains unknown.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

He also flagged trapping as a possible complicating factor, noting that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation currently permits the trapping of mink, gray fox, striped skunk and long-tailed weasel on Long Island.<\/p>\n

The semi-aquatic animal\u2019s appearance came within the same month as the world\u2019s largest manta ray was caught lurking in Long Island waters in another rare appearance.<\/p>\n

The majestic manta ray \u2014 which inhabits tropical, subtropical\u00a0and\u00a0temperate regions \u2014 was spotted feeding in the waters of Jones Beach State Park in August. <\/p>\n

The magnificent sea creature can live up to 40 years and grow to more than 4,000 pounds, according to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.<\/p>\n

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Naturalist Peter Janow caught a rare American mink on a trail camera in Northport, marking the species’ first Long Island sighting in 31 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-long-island"],"yoast_head":"\nRare American mink possibly spotted on Long Island for first time in 31 years - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rare American mink possibly spotted on Long Island for first time in 31 years - 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