Minks are bred in their millions for their valuable fur. Once considered to be a fur of great luxury, the pelt of this animal has slowly become more popular, as gradually the task of breeding mink has become more commercialized.
At one time, the mink was no more than a rather small carnivorous animal living in the depths of North America forests. Its misfortune has been to be the processor of a winter coat, which is extremely fine, warm, light and tough. For a long time, the mink was hunted; captured by Canadian trappers during the winter and the skins then sold to large companies. Later, people began to breed the mink, in small numbers at first, and then on a large scale. Mutations began to appear: white, blue, silver, beige, each more beautiful than the last. Through skilled crossbreeding and selection, breeders finally obtained the many types and qualities of mink coat which we are now able to admire in furriers’ windows.
Through breeding, this species has been saved from the almost certain extinction which would have menaced its more or less brief period as an adult. It can certainly be said that the wild mink cuts a very poor figure beside the beautiful bred specimens. In Europe there is another wild mink, very closely related to the American monk. It is very rare and lives in marshland and beside slow-flowing streams where it feeds on frogs, small rodents, and fish. Judging by its appearance and its habits, the mink is related to the polecat – it is the same size and has the same repulsive smell. It has the odd habit of accumulating a reserve larder, but it has never been discovered exactly why.
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