I see this critter swimming in the canal I live on all the time. For the first time, he jumped onto my dock and I was able to get a quick picture. I suppose he could be some kind of weasel, but he doesn’t look like pictures of weasels that I have seen. He’s very thin and relatively small. He won’t let you get anywhere near him. The photo was taken from my back porch.
I live in Northwest Montana off the Flathead River on a canal. The river flows past us and directly into Flathead Lake. I see him swimming in the canal in the evenings before sunset. Any idea what kind of Mustelid it is?
It’s not an otter. I’ve seen plenty of them and they are much larger. I think Kron is right. It looks more like a mink than anything else. I didn’t know minks were so aquatic, and so slight-looking when they are soaking wet.
I agree that @Kron appears to have nailed it. This site shows that it does indeed hang around in those parts and even has a photo where the mink has a matching whitish throat patch.
They are excellent swimmers both on top of and below the surface. This may just be a juvenile due to its small size.
How can they survive the long winter? I don’t think they hibernate and the canal freezes over completely. They have to come up to breathe sooner or later. I never see them around during the cold winter months.
