THIS IS MINKHUNTING
Master and Huntsman, Arlin Rickard, taunts hounds with a live mink. Devon and Cornwall Minkhounds, May 3rd 1982.
Minkhunting is the summer bloodsport. It fills the gap, for hunting fanatics between the ending of one foxhunting season and the start of the next.
The mink hunted are North American mink. These were brought to this country by the Fur Trade in 1929 to be exploited in fur farms. Since their introduction to this country there have been escapes to the wild. In addition there were deliberate releases to the wild by some fur farmers when the price of the pelts collapsed in the years following World War II. At that time the summer bloodsport was otterhunting.
The hounding of the otter to near extinction throughout the 1950s, 1960s and through much of the 1970s also played a significant role in distributing mink the length and breadth of our countryside. The otterhunters chased and killed some mink. The many mink they chased but did not kill were effectively driven up and down our river systems
Three Counties Minkhounds. Hounds wait to pounce.
Three Counties Minkhounds. September 4th 1982
Hunt whipper-in, Peter May, holds a live mink. Seconds later he throws it up on the bank behind the hounds who chase it and kill it.
For more about minkhunting see the visit to a minkhunt in our report on visits made with the Lord Burns Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs.