What animal is this?

[stavebuyer]

How big are the holes?  We have some holes near the waters edge down on our point.  Those holes are about 6" diameter where they come out about 7' from the water, and another hole right downhill from those right at the water that I expect are connected.  I was thinking an Otter made those, but am not sure.

edited to add:  Google found this:

Minks dig burrows or use those of other mammals such as muskrats. Burrows, which are always near water, consist of tunnels 0.3-0.9 m (1-3 ft) below the surface of the ground, 10-15 cm (4-6 in) in diameter, and up to 3.7 m (12 ft) in length.

I was thinking Otter because SIL said she saw an Otter swimming off the end of the point, but she could have mistaken a Mink for an Otter.

I trapped quite a few back in the 70's when furs were still valuable. Muskrats generally build the tunnels/bank dens. Mink tend to use what they come across. A bank den with a 6" diameter range underwater entrance is a textbook muskrat den. Often both mink and muskrats tend to be only active at night in more developed areas.

[Tom King]

We have holes on the waterline of our point that fit the design of Mink dens according to Google.  There is one hole coming out the surface maybe 8 to 10 feet from the water, and another just above the waterline.  Piles of dirt thrown mostly out the lower hole, but a little out of the top hole.

We've seen them for a couple of years, but didn't know what they were.

SIL said she saw an Otter swimming off the end of the point the last time she was here, but now says it could have been a Mink.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with those holes.  I'm a little afraid the mower will cave one in, but so far not.  I filled one in with dirt the best I could, and another was just built farther out on the point.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I never saw any holes I could specifically identify as a mink den. Our banks along the lake and river are honeycombed with holes from washouts and various animals. There are tons of places for them to duck into under rocks and roots and such. With flooding our water level easily changes 20-30 feet in height over the year. Where I am fishing now there is a high water line on the trees from a couple months ago that is at least 15' above the current lake level.

[Tom King]

I'm going to set up a game camera down there when we get a lull between renters.  Our water level is pretty constant, so the hole right above the water doesn't change relative to the water surface.

[stavebuyer]

Female Mink generally keep a home range of a square mile or so. Males are wanderers that cover a large range and might be 2 weeks to month before they finish their loop. They will both dart in and out of any interesting hole looking for prey(of which muskrats are often at the top of the list) You may get a picture, but a mink didn't build it. I don't care what Google says.

Since fur became mostly worthless Mink have actually become very common.

[Tom King]

No one has seen any Muskrats here in decades, since the lake was first flooded in 1963.  The cove where the holes are on the point,

 to the right, is pretty busy being lined with houses on the other side of the cove.

The only time anyone has seen such any animal swimming was very early one morning by my SIL.

The hole is a little ways down the bank past the dock.  The first hole that I filled up was on the near side of the dock.  The newest hole appeared a few days after I filled the first one.

Those Water Willow weeds die back underwater in cold weather.   Only pictures I can find right off.  There are people in that cove almost every day.  The point is about 600 feet long with almost a quarter mile of waterfront including the beach that the plane is pulled up to.  It was thick woods until a few years ago when I started working on it.




 

[Tom King]

The point if completely open now under what few Oak trees I left.  I'm trying to get grass growing on the whole thing.  It doesn't look as long as it is in the second picture.  There is no other wild shoreline for miles.



 

 

[SawyerTed]

I believe I've seen that plane land on Belews Lake in Stokes/Rockingham/Guilford counties.  

[Tom King]

They live up in the mountains on a lake, but I forget where.  They came for a puppy visit.

Here are a couple of pictures of soon after I started working on it a few years ago.  It was wild woods, and the protected weeds had filled the cove completely.  For some reason, they're disappearing gradually.



 

[Tom King]

A short while back a Canadian Goose hatched babies on the end of the point.  The nest was down in the rip rap on the end of the point, and she sat on them even through some rough days with heavy spray splashing over her.

 Every one of the eggs hatched, and the pair of geese were doing their best to protect the babies.  

They'd park them in those Water Willow weeds, and swim around in front of them looking out for danger.  They were out like that for a couple of days.  

The third morning all the babies were gone, and the pair of geese swam around calling for them for several days.  We have a better idea what happened to them now.