Mink in Wanstead Park

The loss on 6th May of six Egyptian goslings (or - strictly - ducklings) just days after hatching may be an indication of the numbers of other birds that we may be losing to predators. The Egyptian Geese were very obvious to everybody, but what of the ones that we don't take so much account of?

As I reported in the article about the geese (here), there are a number of keen predators about, from pike and terrapins through to crows and gulls. For a good few years there have been reports of mink being seen in Wanstead Park - often near the Ornamental Water or the Roding adjacent - but this year particularly mink have been seen in Perch Pond, Heronry Pond and possibly the Shoulder of Mutton too. A single mink will range widely in its search for prey, and has a large territory. The interconnecting conduits between the lakes - and the Dell - would seem to make an ideal out-of-site route for a mink to access all of the Park's waters without much fear of being sighted.

However, recent reports seem to indicate that the mink might not have too much fear of humans: Nick Croft reports one looking at him out of the inflow to the conduit connecting Heronry Pond to Perch Pond, and on 5th July Paul Donovan reported seeing FOUR mink by the Ornamental Water. He says that  "The mink did not seem partcularly wary when i spotted them as they scuttled down onto a ledge by the lake and then looked up at me as i was looking down." He reported them to a Forest Keeper, thankfully, because seeing four may indicate that they have bred. Just one mink is a tragedy for the Park, and much as I don't like the idea of trapping creatures, this problem should have been dealt with some years ago when mink were first sighted.

Hopefully, something will be done about them now.

Paul Ferris, 8th July 2011