mink

a kind of animal – mammal – four-legged – meat-eating – related to weasel family – lives in and around ponds, lakes, streams and river banks, long slender body with thick brown or chocolate brown fur, narrow head, small ears, pointed snout (= mouth and nose part), strong jaws and sharp teeth, round clear eyes, few thin whiskers (= hair around mouth and nose part), short legs with five toed partly webbed feet (= a thin layer of skin between toes) with claws, long thick bushy (5-10 inch long) tail; size: 1½-2 feet long body plus the tail, and weight: 500 grams to 1 Kg (some farm-bred individuals can grow up to 3 Kg.) males larger than females; feeds on (eats) fish, mice, rats, frogs, crayfish, rabbits, water birds and insects; lives for 8-10 on the farms and only 3-5 years in the wild; two major types – Eurasian mink and American mink, found in Europe and America and in some parts of west Asia                   

male ~~ male

female ~~ female

baby ~~ kitten; cub

group ~~ —

voice (call) ~~ squeal; hiss; snarl

home ~~ burrows (not dug by themselves, but used other animals’ burrows)

Special Features:

The Eurasian mink and the American mink are almost similar (= look alike), but the Eurasian mink has a white patch or band of fur on the lips; the American mink may or may not have; and some species of American mink have shorter tails.

Mink pelts are very highly prized in the fur trade. An average size mink coat (4 feet long coat) coasts $ 4,000!  And the more famous the designer the more expensive the coat!

Mink oil is used in making some kinds of medicine and cosmetics, and also used to make the leather products waterproof!

Minks are kept as pets, but animal experts feel that they are not all that good as pets.

Like ‘skunks’, minks also give out very bad smelling scent to keep off their predators (= animals that try to kill and eat them), and, in addition, they have sharp teeth and they are aggressive by nature!

Minks have been hunted for their smooth, soft and shiny pelts for hundreds of years, but they are now kept on farms for their fur.

[The fur and the clothes – coat, hat, and stole, etc., made of mink pelts are also called ‘mink’ or ‘mink coat’ or ‘mink trimmed hat’, etc.]

Figures of Speech:

1.

mink (noun)  =  a person who is over-active in sex

2.

f—k like a mink {not to be used in formal situations} [said of a woman who is easily moved to sexual love and who doesn’t limit herself to one sexual partner]

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