Rare American mink possibly spotted on Long Island for first time in 31 years

An American mink was captured on a trail camera in Suffolk County — and wildlife researchers say it’s remarkably rare if it is the adorable little critter.

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.

The image shows the cute water weasel appearing to be carrying a bird in its mouth.

He told the outlet it marks the first sighting of the American mink on Long Island in 31 years.

The American mink is a small, semi-aquatic carnivore in the weasel family — related to otters and ferrets — 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.

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

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.

“I thought it was just a matter of time before I captured a mink on one of my trail cameras,” he told Greater Long Island.

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 — two photographs and an approximately 15-second video that appeared to depict a mink.

Janow immediately sent the findings to Seatuck Environmental Association wildlife biologist Mike Bottini for confirmation.

“He came back quickly and said, ‘Hey, yeah, that’s 100 percent an American mink,'” the naturalist recalled.

The animal was last reported on Long Island in 1996, though no photographic evidence exists from that sighting, Bottini told Greater Long Island.

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

“The mink situation is a shock,” Bottini told Greater Long Island.

Bottini said much of the mink’s preferred habitat — wetlands and salt marshes — still exists and is protected on Long Island, though the reason for their apparent decline remains unknown.

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.

The semi-aquatic animal’s appearance came within the same month as the world’s largest manta ray was caught lurking in Long Island waters in another rare appearance.

The majestic manta ray — which inhabits tropical, subtropical and temperate regions — was spotted feeding in the waters of Jones Beach State Park in August.

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.