While I was there, I watched a mink on the opposite side of the pool.
As well as working the undergrowth, it was also twenty feet off the ground, as it searched trees via one that had fallen and given it easier access than usual.
They are ruthless killers and, ironically, many have found themselves in the countryside via animal rights activists who set them free from fur farms.
I’m not saying I agree with breeding them for slaughter but, if you care about the big nature picture, then releasing them in the wild is an extremely irresponsible thing to do.
Small enough to get in the water side burrows, they have driven our native water voles to the point of serious decline.