70 Nebraskaland • May 2024
THE LAST STOP
It wasn't scared of me.
The squirrel-sized creature, its dark brown fur wet from a
recent swim, paused to stare up at me from the gravel path
just yards away. It was the most fearless wild animal I had
ever encountered, and I wasn't even sure what it was.
I raised my camera and fired off a couple of shots, and
then the moment passed. Still unconcerned, the animal
went zipping through the grass, scampering along shoreline
branches and gliding easily along the surface of the wetland
pond nearby. It was a joy to watch it, its small body all energy.
Our encounter happened last May along the trails at Heron
Haven, a small spring-fed wetland and wildlife sanctuary
in Omaha, just off the intersection of 120th and Old Maple
streets. In my opinion, it's one of Omaha's best-kept secrets,
with a variety of wildlife, photography blinds and well-
maintained trails and gardens. I'd spent hours photographing
pollinators in the butterfly garden, as well as frogs, turtles and
ducks in the wetland ponds. But none of those experiences
measured up to the one with this furry mystery creature.
The next week, I reached out to Sam Wilson, the furbearer
and carnivore program manager at Nebraska Game and Parks,
to figure out what the heck this thing was. He confirmed my
uneducated guess: It was a mink, a semi-aquatic carnivore
belonging to the mustelid family.
And the reason why it was so unafraid of me? Probably
because it was born inside city limits and has likely seen
people every day since the time it was young, Wilson said.
Mink are confident animals in general, he added, but ones
in rural areas, where people are scarcer and may hunt or trap
them, would be more fearful of humans.
I also happened to be in the right place. Because mink
are small, people don't see them often unless you're in
the right habitat, Wilson said — and Heron Haven is the
perfect example of that. Mink dwell near water, especially
spots with wild areas nearby where they can hunt for frogs
and crayfish. Many urban areas in Nebraska with lakes or
wetlands offer the opportunity to see mink.
Now that I know what I'm looking for, I'm keeping my eyes
peeled for more of this mink's fearless brethren. Who knows
what awaits me at Heron Haven this year?
By Renae Blum
FEARLESS
A mink pauses along a trail at Heron Haven in Omaha. RENAE BLUM
