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Porcupine and ferrets in the valley?

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#21 ·
I see porcupines all the time in the coast range, I think I have seen 7 so far this hunting season. Not sure what the other thing you seen was but I have seen those before as well in the valley.
 
#22 ·
Porcupine quills are definitely not controlled. You can buy them quite readily. They are used in arts and crafts stuff. There is a little store just outside Lebanon that pays for good hides including for porcupine. They tan them on site (applies to most hides really. They tan almost everything including skunk) and also sell the tanned hides and the quills. If you drive by the place it looks like a school as the store is in an old school building. Place is Bond's Indian Supply.
 
#25 ·
caster79 said:
The other critter was likely a mink. They are not native but are generally the result of a PETA raid on a mink farm. A couple of families I knew growing up raised them and they would have their animals released once a year by those nut cases. You can occasionally find ferrets that have escaped or been turned loose in the wild too.
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Mink are not native to Oregon?? That's going to come as a surprise to the mink. ;)

E
 
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#27 ·
nehalemguy said:
Mink are not native to Oregon?? That's going to come as a surprise to the mink. ;)

E
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After reading your comment I looked it up. You are right. Since they are farmed I didn't realize they were native to the US pretty much everywhere north of Arizona. Learned my new thing for the day.

Growing up we generally had attacks on our chickens within a day or two of the PETA raids on local farms. Never had attacks any other time.
 
#28 ·
There are a few in NOrthern AZ - But In Arizona we do have ferrets.
Everytime I tried to post a picture of the ferret- I get a system error.

caster79 said:
After reading your comment I looked it up. You are right. Since they are farmed I didn't realize they were native to the US pretty much everywhere north of Arizona. Learned my new thing for the day.

Growing up we generally had attacks on our chickens within a day or two of the PETA raids on local farms. Never had attacks any other time.
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#29 ·
We used to see lots of minks hunting for food on the log booms tied in the sloughs off the main stem of the Siuslaw, while trolling for bluebacks and jacks. I don't know what has happened to the porcupine population on the west side. I almost never see one dead in the road as in ears past. The quills make a wonderful resource if you are interested in the meticulous craftsmanship of our First Nations predecessors. They would gather them and dye them, then fold and sew them in intricate patterns on brain-tan clothing, knife sheaths, bow and gun scabbards, etc. BEAUTIFUL STUFF!
 
#30 ·
Could be a river Otter. Many many years ago my brother in law and I released one out of a leg hold trap that was down by the Sandy river. No it was not a mink or a Weasel.
 
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#31 ·
Why not google "mink" and check out the hundreds of pictures of wild mink in all colors from reddish to white and all points in between. Otters do not look ferret like. Also google weasel and compare the two. A weasel is basically the same as a mink only smaller from what I can tell.
 
#33 ·
Ifisherkid said:
I'm not sure it was a mink, unless they get white/tan. I haven't seen very many minks in the wild though. Only one that got into my chicken coop when I was a kid and he had a massive hole in him for a point blank 20 gauge. :whistle:



Buck mink often (actually most that I have ever seen do) have a white patch on their chests.I have trapped them in Alaska and have caught some that were almost blond and others that were nearly black. Most are chocolate-(ish). I'm not certain about Oregon, but in Alaska fur farming was quite common, and in some areas, especially on some of the islands, you find different color phases. I expect they were selectively bred for a desired color.
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#34 ·
Alaska2Oregon said:
Buck mink often (actually most that I have ever seen do) have a white patch on their chests.I have trapped them in Alaska and have caught some that were almost blond and others that were nearly black. Most are chocolate-(ish). I'm not certain about Oregon, but in Alaska fur farming was quite common, and in some areas, especially on some of the islands, you find different color phases. I expect they were selectively bred for a desired color.
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The farmed ones can include anything from white to near black. The white gene is a recessive so when they get a white mink they selectively breed them to produce more white and grays. If a farm can do it it can also happen in nature although less likely. Farms raise large numbers of them and allow the oddball colors to live an reproduce where in the wild a white coat makes them a target for natural selection.
 
#35 ·
And what did my Dad and I run into today up in the woods, yep Mr. Porcupine drinking from a mud puddle in the road. I got some good pics, maybe I will get around to uploading them once I figure out a new resizer! :doh:

He was pretty cold, he didn't move very fast, we took a bunch of pics and watched him slowly climb the bank to go eat some more trees. Sorry Hancock, well you did block the roads this year! :whistle:
 
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Discussion starter · #36 ·
Tanglewood said:
Why not google "mink" and check out the hundreds of pictures of wild mink in all colors from reddish to white and all points in between. Otters do not look ferret like. Also google weasel and compare the two. A weasel is basically the same as a mink only smaller from what I can tell.
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What's this google you speak of?? :wink: I could do that...but asking here is better. These guys know more than google will. I will get 100000000 results on things I don't care about, and a few that I am looking for. Plus I have 3 days till I am elk hunting so starting a conversation helps pass the time.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm thinking it's a weasel after looking at some pictures and discussion. Those things are actually kind of cute. :doh:
 
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