Rarely seen Everglades mink captures ‘giant’ snake

Pete Thomas
Mon, January 10, 2022


A Florida resident has captured extraordinary footage showing an Everglades mink scurrying across a dirt road with a large snake it had just captured.

Hannah Cardenas sent her footage to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The FWC, explaining that mink sightings are rare because of the animals’ elusive nature, shared the footage via Facebook on Monday, stating:

“Imagine the surprise seeing this Everglades mink scampering across the road carrying DINNER! A mother and daughter were on their way home from a nature hike in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park when they spotted this mink run across the road in front of them – seconds later, it ran BACK across the road with a GIANT SNAKE in its mouth!”

Mink occasionally prey on snakes longer than their body lengths. They also eat fish, birds, and small mammals

According to the FWC website, mink are difficult to study in terms of abundance and distribution “because this species is small sized, fast moving, and excellent at remaining out of sight. They are often confused with the much larger and more common river otter.”

Mink are listed as threatened in Florida.

–Image courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission