MINK SEEN BY VOLUNTEERS

Several mink  have been seen by myself and volunteers in Cookham over the past couple of months.
This is not good news for the project as a trapping program will need to be set up to eradicate this threat to the reintroduction of water voles.
Volunteers at Cliveden have seen mink on the Thames at the bottom of Cookham Reach. The lock keeper at Cookham lock  saw a mink at the lock on the 9th July and I have found a dead mink (killed by someone else) close to the Summerleaze Sailing club in  Maidenhead. From a scientific point of view I collected data from this dead mink and took a few pictures. Like many of you  I do not like to see any dead animals but the truth is that mink are an invasive species which must be eliminated.

I have purchased my first mink raft and trap and will need to place this in Cookham soon to see if there are mink in Strand Water. Do any volunteers want to help me monitor this raft?
On the positive note the swans, and moor hens have had and fledged their chicks which is a good indication that mink are not on Strand water at the moment.