# Help ID this Critter **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667 "2021-06-20T03:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/1 "2021-06-20T03:27:50Z")
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](https://photos.app.goo.gl/fLmU3LSB1NFtqwxeA). 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? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/2 "2021-06-20T03:32:36Z")
Otter? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Gfp-otter-and-trout.jpg/800px-Gfp-otter-and-trout.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Gfp-otter-and-trout.jpg/800px-Gfp-otter-and-trout.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/3 "2021-06-20T03:36:40Z")
Looks like a mink! > **[American mink](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mink)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > 15, see text > The American mink (Neogale vison) is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink is classed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. The American mink was formerly thought to be the only extant member of the genus Neovison following the extinction of the sea mink (N. macrodon)... ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/4 "2021-06-20T03:52:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/5 "2021-06-20T03:54:03Z")
I agree that @Kron appears to have nailed it. [This site](http://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AMAJF02050) shows that it does indeed hang around in those parts and even has a photo where the mink has a matching whitish throat patch. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/6 "2021-06-20T03:54:09Z")
I spent about an hour on a survey just watching a mink tooling around in a decent-sized stock reservoir here in Wyoming; neat little guys. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2021, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-critter/944667/7 "2021-06-20T03:59:34Z")
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.