Calls for bounty on mink to reduce population

ANYBODY trying to keep hens, or ducks, will know how difficult it is to protect them from predators. Foxes have always been a threat to poultry but, in some areas, mink are now regarded with equal dread in the coop.

The fox — a resilient animal which has survived a deal of persecution and targeted hunting — has always been with us, but mink made its first appearance here in mid-20th century, being imported from America for fur farming enterprises.

Mink in the wild are descended from animals that escaped, or were freed, from fur farms. They have been breeding in the countryside since the 1950s, adapting very well to Irish conditions.