American mink Mustela vison in the upper thames catchment: Relationship with selected prey species and den availability

American mink Mustela vison and three prey types of economic and conservation importance were censused along four rivers in the Upper Thames catchment area. There were no significant correlations between any measures of mink abundance and any measures of fish or moorhen Gallinula chloropus abundance, suggesting that mink were neither limiting nor limited by these prey items. Water voles Arvicola terrestris, however, were negatively correlated with mink, being absent at four sites where mink were most numerous. Sites at which mink were most numerous had a high availability of potential den sites and low emergent vegetation cover, but there were no correlations between water voles and the availability of their preferred habitat. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Limited Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved.